I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.} 



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* UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, j 



O IEOTJLAR 



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THE GENERAL 



LAND OFFICE, 



THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE PRE-EMPTION, HOMESTEAD, 
TIMBER CULTURE, AND OTHER LAWS. 



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ISSUED OOTOIBIEIR, 1, 1878. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1878. 



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* CIECULAE. 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

General Land Office, 

Washington, D. C, October J, 1878. 

The following is communicated in reference to the manner of acquiring title to the public lauds under 
different laws of Congress : 

The public lands referred to are included within the States of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colo- 
rado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, 
Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Wisconsin, and the Territories of Arizona, Dakota, Idaho, Montana, 
New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. These States and Territories, with the exception of 
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, are divided iuto land districts, in each of which there is a land office established 
by law, with a register and a receiver iu attendance for the sale or other disposal of the public lands 
therein. See sections 2234 to 2247 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, copies hereto attached, 
No. 1 ; also list of land offices, on page 67. Parties so desiring may obtain at these offices any proper 
information regarding vacant public lands. 

Of agricultural public lands there are two classes, the one class at §1.25 per acre, which is designated 
as minimum, and the other at §2.50 per acre, or double minimum. 

Title may be acquired by purchase at public sale, or by ordinary "private entry," and in virtue of 
the pre-emption, homestead, and timber-culture laws. 

BY PURCHASE AT PUBLIC SALE. 

This may be done where lands are "offered" at public auction to the highest bidder, either pursuant 
to proclamation by the President or public notice given, in accordance with directions from the General 
Land Office. 

. BY "PRIVATE ENTRY" OR LOCATION. 

The lands liable to disposal in this manner are those which have been offered at public sale, which 
were not then sold, and which have not since been reserved or otherwise withdrawn from market. In this 
class of offered and unreserved public lands the following steps may be taken to acquire title: 

CASH PURCHASES. 

The applicant will first present a written application to the register for the district in which the land 
desired is situated, describing the tract he wishes to purchase, giving its area, form No. 10. Thereupon the 
register, if the tract is vacant, will so certify to the receiver, stating the price, and the applicant must then 
pay the amount of the purchase money. 

The receiver will then issue his receipt for the money paid, in duplicate, giving to the purchaser a 
duplicate receipt, form No. 11. The register will then issue his certificate of purchase, form No. 12. At the 
close of the month the register and receiver will make returns of the sale to the General Land Office, from 
which, when the proceedings are found regular, a patent or complete title will be issued; and on surrender 
of the duplicate receipt such patent will be delivered, at the option of the patentee, either by the Commis- 
sioner at Washington or by the register at the district land office. 



When patents are ready for delivery, they will in all cases be transmitted to the local office where the 
location or entry was made, where they can be obtained by the party entitled thereto, upon surrender of 
the duplicate receipt, or certificate, as the case may be; unless the duplicate shall have been previously 
filed in this office with a request that the patent be delivered as requested by the person sending the same; 
and in no case will the patent be delivered either from this or the local office except upon receipt of such 
duplicate, or, in case of its loss from any cause, upon the filing in lieu of the same an affidavit made by the 
present bona fide owner of the land, accounting for the loss of the same, and also showing ownership of the 
tracts or a portion thereof embraced in the patent. 

In case the duplicate has been duly assigned by the locator, by a valid transfer in accordance with the 
laws governing transfer of realty in the State where the land is situated, such assignment will be recognized 
by this office and patent issued accordingly, provided the duplicate with the assignment thereon shall be 
filed in this office prior to the issuing of patent; but in no case will a patent be canceled for the purpose 
of making a reissue in the name of the assignee, where such assignment is not in possession of the office 
prior to date of the patent. Transfers of this kind must in all cases comply strictly with the law of the 
place, and if the assignor be a married man, and the statute requires the wife to join in the deed, it must 
be complied with, and in case of failure in this or other vital point the patent will follow strictly the 
recital of the certificate and issue only in the name of the original purchaser. 

LOCATIONS WITH WARRANTS. 

Application must be made as in cash cases, but must be accompanied by a warrant duly assigned as 
the consideration for the land; yet where the tract is §2.50 per acre, the party, in addition to the surren- 
dered warrant, must pay in cash $1.25 per acre, as the warrant is in satisfaction of only so many acres at 
$1.25 per acre, or furnish a warrant of such denomination as will, at the legal value of ?1.25 per acre, 
cover the rated price of the land. For example: a tract of 40 acres of land, held at $2.50 per acre, can 
be paid for with a warrant calling tor 40 acres and the payment of §50 in cash, or by surrendering an 
eighty-acre warrant for the same — the 40 acres to be in full satisfaction for the said location. Or a tract 
of 80 acres, rated at S2.50 per acre, can be paid for by the surrender > if two eighty-acre warrants. If there 
is a small excess in the area of the tract over the quantity called for on the face of the warrant in any case, 
such excess may be paid for in money. 

A duplicate certificate of location will then be furnished the party, to lie held until the patent is deliv- 
ered, as in cases of cash sales. 

The following fees are chargeable by the land officers, and the several amounts must be paid <>t flic 

time of location: 

For :i 40-acre warrant, 50 cents each to the register ami receiver — total, sun). 
For a CO acre warrant, 75 cents " " " " 1.50. 

For an 80-aere wan-ant, si. oil " ■• " " 2.00. 

For a 120-acre warrant, $1.50 " " " " 300. 

Fm- a 160-acre warrant, $2.00 " " " " 4. mi. 

■ The above refers only to military bounty land warrants issued for services rendered in former war-, 
there being no such warrants issued on account of services in the late civil war. They are issued from the 
office of the Commissioner of Pensions, by whom information will be furnished, on application, with regard 
to the issue thereof. 

A.GEICULTURAL-COLLEGE SCRIP. 

This scrip may be used — 

First. In the location of land at "private entry," but when so used is only applicable to lands not 
mineral which may be subject to private entry at §1.25 per acre, and i< restricted to a technical "quarter 
section"— that is, land embraced by the quarter-section lines indicated on the official plate of survey: or i( 
may be located on apart of a "quarter section," where such part is taken as in full for a quarter; b U i [{ 



cannot be applied to different subdivisions to make an area equivalent to a quarter section. The manner 
of proceeding to acquire title 'with this class of paper is the same as in cash and warrant cases, the fees to 
be paid being the same as on warrants. The location of this scrip at private entry is restricted to three 
sections in each township of land, and one million acres in any one State. 

Second. In payment of pre-emption claims, in the same manner and under the same rules and regula- 
tions as govern the application to pre-emptions of military land warrants ; this, too, without regard to the 
limitation as to the quantity located in a township or in any State. 

Third. In payment for homesteads commuted under section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States, (copy attached.) 

PRE-EMPTIONS ADMISSIBLE TO THE EXTENT OF ONE QUARTER SECTION, OR ONE HUNDRED AND 

SIXTY ACRES. 

These are admitted under sections 2257 to 2288 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, copies 
of which sections are hereto attached, upon "offered" and "unoffered" lands, and upon any of the unsur- 
veyed lands belonging to the United States to which the Indian title is extinguished, although in the case 
of unsurveyed lands no definite proceedings can be had as to the completion of the title until after the 
surveys shall have been extended and officially returned to the district land office. 

The pre-emption privilege is restricted to heads of families, widows, or single jjersons over the age of 
twenty-one, who are citizens of the United States, or who have declared their intention to become citizens, 
as required by the naturalization laws. This does not include Indians, except such as have ceased their 
tribal relations and been declared citizens by treaties or acts of Congress. 

The right of pre-emption, formerly extended by act of Congress of March 3, 1853, for one quarter 
section, or 160 acres, at the price of §2.50 per acre, to the alternate United States or reserved sections 
along the line of railroads, is continued by the Revised Statutes, sections 2257, 2259, and 2279. 

Section 2281 thereof protects the rights of settlers on sections along the line of railroads, where 
settlements existed prior to withdrawal, and in such cases allows the land to be taken by the pre-emptors 
at $1.25 per acre, but requires that they shall file the proper notices of their claims, and make proof and 
payment, as in other cases. 

Where the tract is "offered" land, the party must file with the district land office his declaratory 
statement as to the fact of his settlement within thirty days from the date of said settlement, form No. 15, 
and within one year from date of settlement must appear before the register and receiver and make proof 
of his actual residence on, and cultivation of, the tract, and secure the same by paying cash, or locating 
thereon military bounty land warrants or agricultural-college scrip, according to law. 

Where the tract has been surveyed and not offered at public sale, the claimant must file his declara- 
tory statement within three months from date of settlement, form No. 14, and make proof and payment 
within thirty months after the expiration of the three months allowed for filing his declaratory Dotice, or, 
in other words, within thirty-three months from date of settlement; — forms Nos. 16, 17, and 18. 

Where settlements are made on unsurveyed lands, settlers are required, within three months after the 
date of the receipt at the district land office of the approved plat of the township embracing their claims, 
to file their declaratory statement with the register of the proper land office, form No. 14, and thereafter 
to make proof and payment for the tract within thirty months from the expiration of said three months; — 
forms Nos. 16, 17, and 18. 

When two or more settlers on unsurveyed land are found upon survey to be residing upon, or to 
have valuable improvements upon, the same smallest legal subdivision, they may make joint entry of such 
tract, and separate entries of the residue of their claims. This joint entry may be made in pursuance of 
contract between the parties, or without it. (Revised Statutes, sec. 2274.) 

Should the settler in either of the aforesaid cases die before establishing Ms claim within the period 
limited by law, the title may be perfected by the executor, administrator, or one of the heirs, by making 



the requisite proof of settlement and paying for the land; (lie entry to lie made in the name of "the 
heirs" of the deceased settler; and the patent will be issued accordingly. The legal representatives of the 
deceased pre-emptor are entitled to make the entry at any time within the period during which the pre- 
emptor would have been entitled to do so had he lived. 

Section 2261 of the Revised Statutes prohibits the second filing of a declaratory statement by any 
pre-emptor qualified at the date of his first filing, where said filing has been in all respects legal. Where 
the first filing, however, is illegal from any cause, not the willful act of the party, he has the right to 
make a second and legal filing. 

LAWS EXTENDING THE HOMESTEAD PRIVILEGE. 

The laws extending the homestead privilege, embraced in sections 2280 to 2312 of the Revised Stat- 
utes, (copies attached,) give to every citizen, and to those who have declared (heir intention to become 
citizens, the right to a homestead on surveyed lands. This is conceded to the extent of one quarter section, or 
1G0 acres, or a half-quarter section, or 80 acres, — the former in cases where the land desired is embraced in 
the class of lower priced lands held by law at §1.25 per acre, when disposed (if to cash purchasers; the 
latter where it is of the class of higher priced lands held at $2.50 per acre, when so disposed of. 

To obtain a homestead, the party must, in connection with his application, form No. 19, make an 
affidavit, form No. 20, before the register or receiver, that he is over the age of twenty-one, or the head of 
a family; that he is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become such; and that 
the entry is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and for actual settlement and cultivation; and must 
pay the legal fee and- that part of the commissions which is payable when the entry is made, as given in 
tallies on page 11. 

Where the applicant has made actual settlement on the land he desires to enter, hut is prevented by 
reason of bodily infirmity, distance, or other good cause, from personal attendance at the district land 
office, the affidavit may be made before the clerk of the court for the county within which the land is 
situated, under section 22!)4 of the Revised Statutes. 

On compliance by the party with the foregoing requirements, the receiver will issue his receipt for 
the fee and that part of the commissions paid, form No. 21, a duplicate of which he will deliver to the 
party. The matter will then lie entered on the records of the district office and reported to the General 
Land Office. 

An inceptive right is vested in the settler by such proceedings, and upon faithful observance of the 
law in regard to settlement and cultivation for the continuous term of five years, and at the expiration of 
that time, or within two years thereafter, upon proper proof to the satisfaction of the land officers, forms 
Nos. 22, 2?>, and 24, and payment to the receiver of that part of the commissions remaining to lie paid, as 
given in tallies on page 11, the receiver issuing his receipt therefor, the register will issue his certificate, 
forms Nos. 25 and 26, and make proper returns to this office as the basis of a patent or complete title For 
the homestead. 

NOTE. — The law is Bpecific in requiring final proof to be made within twu years after il xpiratii f the five j 

in making final proof, the homestead party may appear in person at the district land office, with his 
witnesses, and there make the affidavit and proof required in support of his claim ; or he may proceed 
under the act of March 3, 1877, (copy attached, No. 2.) This prescribes that the party desiring to avail 
himself thereof must appear with his witnesses before the judge of a court of record of the county and 
State, or district and Territory, in which the land is situated, and there make the final proof required by 
law, according to the forms prescribed, Nos. 22, 2-">, and 24; which proof, duly authenticated by the court 
seal, is required to be transmitted by the judge, or the clerk of the court, to the register and receiver, 
together with the fee and charges allowed by law. See 3d, 10th, and 12th sub-divisions of section 2238 
of the Revised Statutes of the United States, (copy attached.) 



The judge being absent in any ease, the proof may be made before the clerk of the proper court. 
The fact of the absence of the judge must be certified in the papers by the clerk acting in his place. 

If the land in any case is situated in an unorganized county, the statute provides that the party may 
proceed to make the proof in the manner indicated in any adjacent county in the State or Territory. The 
fact that the county in which the land lies is unorganized, and that the county in which the proof is made 
is adjacent thereto, must be certified by the officer. 

In any case where the final proof shall be transmitted to the register and receiver, as contemplated in 
this act, and the lull amount of money due shall be paid, they will carefully examine the proof, and if no 
objection appears, proceed to issue the receipt and certificate in the case, and make proper returns to this 
office as the basis of a patent or complete title for the homestead, pursuant to existing laws. If any objec- 
tion appears, they will promptly notify the party and advise him of his rights in the matter. 

Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his claim, the widow, or in case of her 
death the heirs, may continue settlement or cultivation, and obtain title upon requisite proof at the proper 
time. If the widow proves up, the title passes to her; if she dies before proving up and the heirs make 
the proof, the title will vest in them. 

Where both parents die, leaving infant children, the homestead may be sold for cash for the benefit 
of- such children, and the purchaser will receive title from the United States; or the patent will issue to 
the infants by name, on proof of settlement or cultivation for the prescribed period. 

The sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another party before completion of title is not recog- 
nized by this office, and not only vests no title or equities in the purchaser, but would be prima facie 
evidence of abandonment, and might give cause for cancellation of the claim. 

A party may relinquish his claim, but on his doing so the land reverts to the Government. The 
party so desiring should surrender the duplicate receipt issued for the entry, with his written relinquish- 
ment of the same indorsed thereon, to the register and receiver of the proper district land office. If the 
duplicate receipt has been lost, he should submit to those officers a written relinquishment of the entry, in 
which he should state the fact of the loss of the duplicate receipt, and which should be duly signed and 
acknowledged. The register and receiver will report the relinquishment, as any other evidence of aban- 
donment, with' their opinion thereon, for the action of this office. 

Where application is made to contest the validity of a homestead entry on the ground of abandonment, 
the party must file his affidavit with the district land officers, setting forth the allegations on which his 
application is founded, describing the tract, and giving the name of the settler. Upon this the officers will 
set apart a day for hearing, giving all the parties in interest due notice of the time and place of trial. 

In cases of inability to make personal service of the notice, and when it becomes necessary to serve it 
by publication, the act of Congress of June 3, 1878, directs that the same shall "be printed in some news- 
paper printed in the county where the land in contest lies ; and if no newspaper be printed in such county, 
then in the newspaper printed in the county nearest to such land." 

After the trial, the land officers will transmit the testimony, with their joint report, for the action of 
this office. 

The expenses incident to such a contest must be defrayed by the contestant, and no entry of the land 
can be made until the district officers have received notice from this office of the cancellation of the entry 
covering the same ; nor does an informant obtain any privileges thereby. Such person must, if he desires 
the land, by proper diligence ascertain when notice of cancellation is received by the register and receiver, 
and then make formal written application for the tract; the land, after reception by said officers of notice 
of cancellation, being always open to the first legal applicant, unless withdrawn from entry by competent 
authority. 

As the law allows but one homestead privilege, a settler relinquishing or abandoning his claim cannot 
thereafter make a second entry ; but where an entry is canceled as invalid for some reason other than 
abandonment, and not the willful act of the party, he is not thereby debarred from entering again, if in 



8 

other respects entitled, and may be allowed credit for fees and commissions already paid on a new home- 
stead entry. 

When an individual has made settlement on a tract and filed his pre-emption declaration therefor, he 
may change his filing; into a homestead, if he continues in good faith to comply with the pre-emption laws 
until the change is effected ; and by an act of Congress of May 27, 1878, (copy attached, No. 3,) the time 
during which the party has resided upon and claimed the land as a pre-emptor will be credited upon the 
period of residence and cultivation required under the homestead laws. In so doing he is required in his 
first homestead affidavit to set forth the fact of a previous pre-emption filing, the time of actual residence 
thereunder, and the intention to claim the benefit of such time, as provided for in the act. In making 
final proof on his homestead entry, he is required, in addition to the usual affidavit and proof, to make the 
prescribed "pre-emption homestead affidavit," form No. 30. 

If the homestead settler does not wish to remain five years on his tract, the law permits him to pay 
lor it with cash or warrants, or agricultural-college scrip, upon making proof of settlement and cultivation 
for a period of not less than six months from the date of entry to the time of payment. 

This proof of actual settlement and cultivation must be the affidavit of the party, made before the 
district officers, in addition to the testimony usual in making final homestead proof, forms Xos. 23, 24, 
and 27. 

There is another class of homesteads, designated as "adjoining farm homesteads." In these case- the 
law allows an applicant owning and residing on an original farm to enter other land lying contiguous 
thereto, which shall not, with such farm, exceed in the aggregate 160 acres. Thus, for example, a party 
owning or occupying 80 acres may enter 80 additional, without regard to price, whether held at Si. 25 or 
$2.50 per acre; or, if owning 40 acres, he may enter 120 acres additional of land held at $1.25 per acre, 
but cannot exceed the maximum of 80 acres where the land proposed to be entered is held at $2.50 
pea - acre. 

In applying for an entry of this class, the party must make affidavit, form No. 28, describing- the 
tract which he owns and upon which he resides as his original farm. In making final proof, it is not 
required that he should prove actual residence on the separate tract entered; but if he doos not, it must 
appear from the proof adduced (forms Xos. 23, 24, and 29, the two former to be modified to suit the 
circumstances of the case) that he has continued for the period required by law to reside upon and culti- 
vate the original farm tract, and has bona fide made use of the entered tract as a part of the homestead, 
inclosing, cultivating, or otherwise improving the same. 

Provisions for the benefit of soldiers and sailors of the late war, their widows and minor orplum chil- 
dren.— Sections 2304, 2305, 2306, 2307, 2308, and 230!) of the Revised Statutes, for the benefit of sol- 
diers and sailors, their widows and minor orphan children, provide — 

1st. In section 2304, that every soldier and officer in the Army, and every seaman, marine, ami offie T 
of the Navy, who served for not less than ninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States, "during 
the recent rebellion," and who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the Government, may 
enter, under the provisions of the homestead law, 160 acres of the public land, to be taken, if desired, from 
the class of double-minimum lands. 

2d. In section 2305, that the time of his service, or the whole term of his enlistment if the party was 
discharged on account of wounds or disability incurred in the line of duty, shall be deducted from the period 
of five years, during which, as per section 2291, the claimant must, to perfect title, reside upon and cultivate 
the entered tract, but with the proviso that the party shall, in every case, reside upon, improve, and cultivate 
his homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have commenced his improvements. 

3d. That any person entitled to the benefits of section 2304 who had, prior to the 22d June, 1874, 
made a homestead entry of less than 160 acres, may enter an additional quantity of land sufficient to make, 
with the previous entry, 160 acres. 

4th. That the widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then the minor orphan chil- 



dren, of a person who would be entitled to the benefits of section 2304, may enter land under its provisions^ 
with the additional privilege accorded, that if the person died during his term of enlistment, the widow or 
minor children shall have the benefit of the whole term of enlistment. 

5th. That any person entitled to the benefit of section 2304 may file his claim for a tract of land 
through an agent, and shall have six months thereafter within which to make his entry and commence his 
settlement and improvement upon the land. 

The following is the course of proceedings for parties to avail themselves of the benefits of these 
sections of the Revised Statutes in making homestead entries : 

1st. On the party producing the proper proof of his right to do so, immediate entry of the tract desired 
may be made; but if the party so elect, he may file a declaration, form No. 31, to the effect that he claims 
a specified tract of land as his homestead, and that he takes it for actual settlement and cultivation. The 
register and receiver will number the declarations so filed in a separate series, according to the order of filing 
enter them on their records, and with their monthly returns forward au abstract, to embrace all declarations 
of this class filed with them during the month. Thereafter, at any time within six months from the date of 
filing, the party may come forward, make his entry of the land, forms of application and affidavits, Nos. 
32 and 33, and commence his settlement and improvement. Should the party present his declaration through 
an agent as authorized by section 2309, said agent must produce a duly executed power of attorney from 
the principal desiring to nlake the entry, who will be bound by the selection his agent may make the same 
as though made by himself. Where the party has failed to make entry within six months from the date 
of filing, he is not thereby debarred from making entry of the tract filed for, unless some adverse right 
has intervened ; and if so, he may enter some other tract that is still vacant. 

2d. The claims of widows and minor orphan children may be initiated by declaration, as above. Minor 
orphan children can act only by their duly appointed guardians, who must file certified copies of the powers 
of guai'dianship, which must be transmitted to this office by the registers and receivers with their abstracts 
of declarations. The law does not require, as a condition to enjoying its benefits, that the party should first 
file a declaratory statement, and, as before stated, immediate entry may be made. 

3d. Where a party entitled desires to make an additional entry of a quantity which, with his original 
entry, shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres, it is required that a full recital of military service be 
presented to this office, with due proof of the identity of the party making the claim, and with proper 
reference to his original homestead entry, giving the name of the district office, date and number of entry, 
and description of the land. In addition, a detailed statement, under oath, must be filed by the party in 
interest, setting forth the facts respecting his right to make the entry, and containing his declaration that 
he has not in any manner exercised his right, either by previous entry or application, or by sale, transfer, 
or power of attorney, but that the same remains in him unimpaired. He must also declare, under oath, 
that lie has made full compliance with the homestead law in the matter of residence upon, cultivation and 
improvement of, his original homestead entry ; and should further recite whether or not he has proved up 
his claim and received a patent of the land. 

When these papers are filed and examined, they will, if found satisfactory, be returned with a certifi- 
cate attached recognizing the right of the pai - ty to make additional entry under the law; and when pre- 
sented with a proper application at any district land office, either by the party entitled or his agent or 
attorney, they will be accepted by the register and receiver, and forwarded with the entry papers to this 
office in the usual manner. 

The fee for examination and certificate, under the seal of the office, will be one dollar, which must in 
all cases accompany the papers £>resented for approval. 

Where the party's first entry has been consummated, the register and receiver will require him to 
make application in the form prescribed, No. 34, and to pay the same fee and commissions as in cases of 
original entry ; the receiver will issue his receipt for the money paid, and these papers will receive the 
current date and the proper numbers in their homestead series. Then, to complete the transaction — -it being 



10 

an object, for the convenience of business, that the additional entry papers, and the final papers therefor, in 
such cases, shall lie kept separate and distinct — the party will make payment of the usual final commissions 
on the entered tract, for which the receiver will issue his receipt ; the register will thereupon is.-ue his final 
certificate for the additional tract, form No. 35, the receipt and certificate to hear their proper numbers in 
the final homestead series, likewise a reference to the original entry and to the final certificate thereon by 
their number, and also by their district where the party's first entry shall have been made in a different 
district. 

In case the party has not made proof on his original homestead entry when he applies for additional 
land, he will be allowed to make the additional entry on proper application, as above stated, and paying 
the usual fee and commissions, for which the receiver will issue his receipt ; the papers to receive their 
proper numbers in the homestead series, with a reference thereon to the original entry. Thereafter, when 
the party shall make final proof on the original entry, he will be required to pay the final commissions on 
both entries, when a final receipt will be issued for the money, and thereupon a final certificate issued to 
call both for the tract in the original entry and the additional tract. On these papers the register and 
receiver will make a reference to the original and the additional entry, and on them one patent will issue 
for both ; yet where it happens that the original entry and the additional entry are made in different land 
districts, this rule must be departed from so far as regards the issuing of one final certificate anil receipt 
for both. 

The following proof will be required of parties applying for the benefits of sections 2304, 2305, and 
2307, in addition to the prescribed affidavit of the applicant : 

1st. Certified copy of certificate of discharge, showing when the party enlisted and when he was dis- 
charged; or the affidavit of two respectable, disinterested witnesses corroborative of the allegations con- 
tained in the prescribed affidavit, form No. 33, on these points, or, if neither can lie procured, the party's 
affidavit to that effect. 

2d. In case of widows, the prescribed evidence of military service of the husband, as above, with 
affidavit of widowhood, giving the date of the husband's death. 

3d. In ease of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed evidence of military service of the 
father, proof of death or marriage of the mother. Evidence of death may lie the testimony of two wit- 
nesses, or certificate of a physician duly attested. Evidence of marriage may lie certified copy of marriage 
certificate, or of the record of same, or testimony of two witnesses to the marriage ceremony. 

The register and receiver will be allowed to charge one dollar each for receiving and filint;' the 
initiatory declaration of the parties in cases where such declarations are filed. This fee the receiver will 
account for in the usual manner, indicating the same in his account as fees for "homestead declarations," 
which will be charged against the maximum of $3,000 now allowed by law. In the States and Territories 
for which 50 per centum additional is allowed by the twelfth subdivision of section 2238 of the Revised 
Statutes, the additional allowance will apply to the fee herein named, viz : California, Oregon, Washington, 
Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, "Wyoming, and Montana. 

Provisions for the benefit of Indians. — The 15th and 16th sections of the act of March 3, 1875, (copy 
attached, No. 9,) extends the benefits of the homestead act of May 20, 1862, and the acts amendatory 
thereof, (now embodied in sections 2290, 2291 , 2292, and 2295 to 2302, inclusive, of the Revised Statutes,) 
to any Indian, born in the United States, who is the head of a family, or who lias arrived at the age of 
twenty-one years, and who has abandoned, or may hereafter abandon, his tribal relations, with the excep- 
tion that the provisions of the eighth section of said act of 18G2 (section 2301 of the Revised Statutes) 
shall not be held to apply to entries made thereunder, and with the proviso that the title to lands acquired 
by any Indian by virtue thereof shall not be subject to alienation or incumbrance, either by voluntary 
conveyance, or the judgment, decree, or order of any court, and shall be and remain inalienable for a period 
of five years from the date of the patent issued therefor. 

An Indian desiring to enter public land under this act must make application to the register and 



11 

receiver of the proper district land office ; also an affidavit setting forth the fact of his Indian character ; 
that lie was born in the United States ; that he is the head of a family, or has arrived at the age of twenty- 
one years ; that he has abandoned his tribal relations and adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized life, 
form No. 36, and this must be corroborated by the affidavits of two or more disinterested witnesses, form 
No. 37. 

If no objection appears, the register and receiver will then permit him to enter the tract desired 
according to existing regulations, so far as applicable, under the homestead law, the register writing across 
the face of the application, form No. 19, the words "Indian homestead — act of March 3, 1875;" they 
will note the entry on their records and make returns thereof to this office, with which they will send the 
affidavits submitted. It will be observed that the provisions of the eighth section of the act of May 20, 
1862, (section 2301 of the Revised Statutes,) which admits of the commuting of homestead to cash entries, 
do not apply to this class of homesteads. 

All lands obtained under the homestead laws are exempt from liability for debts contracted prior to 
the issuing of patent therefor. 

For homestead entries on lands in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, 
Nebraska, Dakota, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida, commissions and 
fees are to be paid according to the following table : 



Acres. 


Trice 
pei- 
acre. 


Commissions. 


Fee. 


Total of fee and 
commissions. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


Payable when 
certificate issues. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


160 

80 
40 
80 
40 


$1 25 
1 25 

1 25 

2 50 
2 50 


$4 00 
2 00 

1 00 
4 00 

2 00 


$4 00 
2 00 

1 00 
4 00 

2 00 


$10 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 


$18 (10 

9 00 

7 00 

13 00 

9 00 



Note. — Where entries are made on $2.50 lands by officers, soldiers, and sailors, under sec- 
tion 2304 of the Revised Statutes, double the amount of the above commissions must of course 
be paid, — that is, for 100 acres of $2 50, $6 at the date of entry and $8 upon proving up. 

In addition to the States and Territories above named, the same rates will apply to Ohio, Indiana, 
and Illinois, if any vacant tracts can be found liable to entry in these three States, where but very few 
isolated tracts of jmblic land remain undisposed of. 

In the Pacific and other political divisions, viz: on lands in California, Nevada, Oregon, 
Colorado, New Mexico, and Washington, and in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, 
the commissions and fees are to be paid according to the following table : 



Acres. 


Price 
per 
acre. 


Commissions. 


Fee. 


Total of fee and 
commissions. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


Payable when 
certificate issues. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


160 
80 
40 
HO 
40 


$1 25 
1 25 

1 25 

2 50 
2 50 


$0 00 
3 00 
1 50 
6 00 
3 00 


$fi 00 
3 00 
1 50 
6 00 
3 00 . 


$10 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 


$22 00 

11 00 

8 00 

17 00 

11 00 



The note to the above applies also to this table of rates. 



12 

OHIO, INDIANA, AND ILLINOIS. 

Iii reference to disposals of any remnant of public lands in these States, it may be proper here to 
introduce the following regulations for the admission of entries by the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office, under Act of March 3, 1877, in States where, there are no district land offices: 

The act of Congress of March 3, 1877, making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and 
judicial expenses of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1878, provides: "That public lands 
situated in States in which there arc no land offices may be entered at the General Land Office, subject to 
the provisions of law touching the entry of public lands; and that the necessary proofs and affidavits 
required in such cases may be made before some officer competent to administer oaths, whose official char- 
acter shall be duly certified by the clerk of a court of record; and moneys received by the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office for lands entered by cash entry shall be covered into the Treasury." 

Under these provisions the Commissioner of the General Land Office is prepared to perform the 
duties which, by law, were devolved upon the registers and receivers of the district land offices at Chilli- 
cothe, Ohio, Springfield, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana, prior to the abolition of those offices by act 
of Congress of July 31, 1876. 

In so doing, he will receive applications accompanied by the purchase money, or fees and commissions, 
as the case may be, from parties desiring to enter any isolated tracts which may remain undisposed of in 
said States, either from the parties in person or through the mails, and in like manner any proof or pay- 
ment proper to perfect entries already made, take the proper action thereon, and duly advise the parties, 
in regular course of business. 

The following method will be observed in carrying into effect the provisions of the act : 

1st. A clerk has been designated by the Commissioner to receive and act upon the applications which 
may be offered for such entries, and to have charge of the correspondence connected therewith; all moneys 
received to go into the charge of the receiving clerk, designated under the act of July 2, 1864, and any 
moneys found to belong to the United States on the cases being finally passed upon to be turned over to 
the Treasury, according to law. 

2d. Applications will be immediately entered in a preliminary abstract for each State in the order in 
which they are received; will be carefully examined in connection with the plats, files, and records, and 
admitted or rejected, according to the law and instructions governing the case. From such preliminary 
abstracts the admitted applications will be carried to a regular monthly abstract, and the proper certifi- 
cates and receipts will be issued by the Commissioner, acting as ex offieio register and receiver. The 
entries thus admitted will be properly posted in the tract-books, and the papers therefor placed on file, for 
such further action as may be necessary. These entries will be numbered consecutively in continuation of 
the scries entered upon at the respective district offices. The applicants will be promptly advised of the 
result of the examination, and, where the desired entries are admitted, -will be furnished with the appro- 
priate paper, to be held as evidence of title until delivery of the patents. 

3d. In case of conflicting applications, that which is first received shall be first acted upon, as above 
directed, and will be considered as giving the applicant the legal right to the tract applied for, if unexcep- 
tionable in other respects. 

LAWS TO PROMOTE TIMBER CULTURE. 

The timber-culture act of March 3, 1873, having been amended by the act of March 13, 1874, the 
latter has been further amended by the act of June 14, 1878, (copy attached, Xo. 4.) 

I. — Certain provisions of the act of March 13, 1874, arc repealed by the act of June 14, 1S78. 

1. The act of March 13, 1874, at the close of its first section, contains the following: "Provided, 
That not more than one quarter of any section shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more 
than one entry under the provisions of this act, unless fractional subdivisions of les^ than forty acres are 
entered, which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one quarter section." In the act of June 14. 1878, the 



13 

concluding words, " unless fractional subdivisions of less than forty acres arc entered, which, in the aggre- 
gate, shall not exceed one quarter section," are omitted. Hence, the rule forbidding more than one entry 
is made universal, and will govern in all future cases. 

2. The provision of the act of Mareh 13, 1874, requiring that the trees shall be not "more than 
twelve feet apart each way," is omitted from the act of June 14, 1878. The latter requires, however, that 
the final proof shall show "that not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted on each acre, and 
that at the time of making such proof there shall be growing at least six hundred and seventy-five living 
and thrifty trees to each acre." 

3. The elosing sentence of the second section of the act of March 13, 1S74, provides that "in case of 
the death of a person who has complied with the provisions of this act for the period of three years, his 
heirs or legal representatives shall have the option to comply with the provisions of this act, and receive, 
at the expiration of eight years, a patent for one hundred and sixty acres, or receive, without delay, a 
patent for forty acres, relinquishing all claim to the remainder." This provision is not contained in the 
act of June 14, 1878. 

4. The following section of the act March 13, 1874, relating to homestead entries on which timber 
is cultivated, is omitted from the act of June 14, 1878: 

Sec. 4. That each aud every person who, under the provisions of the act entitled ''An Act to secure homesteads to actual 
settlers on the public domain,'' approved May twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, or any amendment thereto, having a home- 
stead on said public domain, who, at any time after the end of the third year of his or her residence thereon, shall, in addition to the 
" settlement and improvements now required by law, have had under cultivation, for two years, one acre of timber, the trees thereon 
not being more than twelve feet apart each way, and in a good thrifty condition, for each and every sixteen acres of said homestead, 
shall, upon due proof of such fact by two credible witnesses, receive his or her patent for said homestead. 

The rights of claimants under entries actually made according to the act of March 13, 1874, before 
the 14th June, 1878, when the amendatory act took effect, are not affected by the repeal of the provisions 
referred to. The parties interested, if they so elect, may consummate their entries according to the pro- 
visions of the act under which they were initiated. And homestead entries made before the 14th June, 
1878, will be patented according to the fourth section above quoted, where the facts are such as to bring 
the cases within its provisions and the interested parties so desire. ' But entries made since that time must 
be adjusted according to the principles of the law as modified by the amendatory act. 

II. — The principal points to be observed in proceedings thereunder may be stated as follows: 

1. The privilege of entry under the act of June 14, 1878, is confined to persons who are heads of 
families, or over twenty-one years of age, and who are citizens of the United States, or have declared their 
intention to become such, according to the naturalization laws. 

2. The affidavit required for initiating an entry under the act of June 14, 1878, may be made before 
the register or receiver of the district office for the land district embracing the desired tract, before the 
clerk of some court of record, or before any officer authorized to administer oaths in that district. 

3. Not more than one hundred and sixty acres in any one section 'can be entered under this act, and 
no person can make more than one entry thereunder. 

4. The ratio of area required to be broken, planted, etc., in all entries under the act of June 14, 1878, 
is one-sixteenth of the laud embraced in the entry, except where the entered tract is less than forty acres, in 
which case it is one-sixteenth of that quantity. The party making an entry of a quarter section, or one 
hundred aud sixty acres, is required to break or plow five acres covered thereby during the first year, and 
five acres in addition during the second year. The five acres broken or plowed during the first year he is 
required to cultivate by raising a crop, or otherwise, during the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, 
or cuttings, during the third year. The five acres broken or plowed during the second year he is required 
to cultivate, by raising a crop, or otherwise, during the third year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings, 
during the fourth year. The tracts embraced in entries of a less quantity than one quarter section are 
required to be broken or plowed, cultivated, and planted in trees, tree-seeds, or cuttings, during the same 
periods, and to the same extent, in proportion to their total areas, as are provided for in entries of a quarter 



11 

section. Provision is made in the act for an extension of time in case the trees, seeds, or cuttings planted 
should be destroyed by grasshoppers or by extreme and unusual drought. 

5. If, at the expiration of eight years from the date of entry, or at any time within live years there- 
after, the person making the entry, or, if he be dead, his heirs or legal representatives, shall prove, by two 
credible witnesses, the planting, cultivating, and protecting of the timber for not less than eight years, 
according to the provisions of the act of June 14, 1878, he, or they, will be entitled to a patent for the 
land embraced in the entry. 

6. If, at any time after one year from the date of entry, and prior to the issue of a patent therefor, 
the claimant shall fail to comply with any of the requirements of that act, then, and in that event, such 
entry will become liable to a contest in the manner provided in homestead cases, and upon due proof of such 
failure the entry will be canceled, and the land become again subject to entry under the homestead laws, 
or by some other person under the act of June 14, 1878. 

7. No land acquired under the provisions of the act of .lime 11, 1878, will in any event become liable 
(o the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 

8. The fees for entries under the act of June 14, 1878, are ten dollars, if the tract applied for i- more 
than eighty acres ; and five dollars, if it is eighty acres or less ; and the commissions of registers and receivers 
on all entries (irrespective of area) arc four dollars (two dollars to each) at the date of entry, and a like 
sum at the date of final proof. 

9. Xo distinction is made, as to area or the amount of fee and commissions, between minimum and 
double-minimum lands. A party may enter one hundred and sixty acres of either on payment of the 
prescribed tec and commissions. 

10. The fifth section of the act approved March 3, 1857, entitled "An Act in addition to an act to 
punish crimes against the United States, and for other purposes," is extended to all oaths, affirmations, and 
affidavits required or authorized by the act of June 14, 187s. 

11. Parties who have already made entries under the timber-culture acts of March 3, 1873, and 
March 13, 1874, of which the act of June 14, 1878, is amendatory, may complete the same by compliance 
witli the requirements of the latter act; that is, they may do so by showing, at the time of making their 
final proof, that they have had under cultivation, as required by the act of June 14, 1.X7S, an amount of 
timber sufficient to make the number of acres required thereby, being one-fourth the number required by 
the former acts. 

III. — The following regulations are prescribed pursuant to the fifth section of the act of June 14 
1878, viz: 

1. The register and receiver will not restrict entries under this act to one quarter section only in each 
section, as was formerly done under the acts to which this is amendatory, but may allow entries to l>c 
made of subdivisions of different quarter sections; provided that each entry shall form a compact body, 
not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, and that not more than that quantity shall be entered in any 
one section. Before allowing any entry applied for, they will, by a careful examination of the plat and 
tract-books with ■reference to any previous entry or entries within the limits of the same section, satisfy 
themselves that the desired entry is admissible under this rule. 

2. When they shall have satisfied themselves that the land applied for is properly subject to such 
entry, they will require the party to make the prescribed affidavit, and to pay the fee and that part of the 
commissions payable at the date of entry, and the receiver will issue his receipt therefor, in duplicate, 
giving the party a duplicate receipt. They will number the entry in its order, in a separate series of 
numbers, unless they have already a series under the acts to which this act is amendatory, in which case 
they will number the entry as one of that series; they will note the entry on their records and report it in 
their monthly returns, sending up all the papers therein, with an abstract of the entries allowed during the 
month under this act. If the affidavit is made before a justice of flic peace, which the act admits of, his 
official character and the genuineness of his signature must lie certified under seal. 



15 

3. When a contest is instituted, as contemplated in the third section of the act of June 14, 1878, the 
contestant will be allowed to make application to enter the land. The register will thereupon indorse on 
the application the date of its presentation, and will make the application, and the contestant's affidavit 
setting forth the grounds of contest, the basis for further proceedings, these papers to accompany the report 
submitting the case to the General Land Office. Should the contest result in the cancellation of the con- 
tested entry, the contestant may then perfect his own, but no preference right will be allowed unless appli- 
cation is made by him at date of instituting contest. 

4. The fees and commissions in this class of entries the receiver will account for in the usual manner, 
indicating the same as fees and commissions on timber-culture entries, which will be charged against the 
maximum of §3,000 now allowed by law. 

5. In all cases under this act it will be required that trees shall be cultivated which shall be of the 
class included in the term " timber" the cultivation of shrubbery and fruit trees not being sufficient. 

6. The applications, affidavits, and receipts in entries allowed under the act of June 14, 1878, will 
be made out according to the forms hereto attached, Nos. 38, 39, and 40. 

The foregoing portion of this circular has reference to public lands which are agricultural in character. 
There arc special laws for the disposal of desert lands, saline, lands, town-sites on the public domain, and 
lands which are unfit for cultivation and valuable chiefly for timber or stone. 

DESERT LANDS. 

By desert lauds is meant a class of lands which will not, without irrigation, produce any agricultural 
crop. Title to such lands in any of the following States and Territories may be acquired under the act of 
Congress of March 3, 1877, (copy attached, No. 5,) viz : the Stcdes of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and 
the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona., New Mexico, and Dakota. 
Any party desiring to avail himself thereof must file with the register and receiver of the proper district 
land office a declaration in form prescribed, No. 41, which must be under oath, and may be executed 
before either the register or receiver, or the clerk of any court of record having a seal. It must set forth 
that the applicant is a citizen of the United States, or that he has declared his intention to become such, in 
which case a duly certified copy of his declaration of intention to become a citizen must be presented and 
filed. It must also be set up that the applicant has made no other declaration for desert lands under the 
provisions of this act, and that he intends to reclaim the tract of land applied for, not exceeding one sec- 
tion, by conducting water thereon within three years from the date of his declaration. The declaration 
must also contain a description of the land applied for, by legal subdivisions if surveyed, or, if unsur- 
veyed, as nearly as possible without a survey by giving with as much clearness and precision as possible 
the locality of the tract with reference to known and conspicuous landmarks or the established lines of 
survey, so as to admit of its being thereafter readily identified when the lines of survey come to be ex- 
tended. 

As preliminary to the filing of such declaration, it must be satisfactorily shown that the land therein 
described is desert land as defined in the second section of the act. To this end, the testimony of at least 
two disinterested and credible witnesses is required, whose testimony will be reduced to writing in the usual 
manner ; or the evidence may be furnished in the form of affidavits executed before the clerk of any court 
of record having a seal, the credibility of the witnesses to be certified by said clerk. The witnesses must 
clearly state their acquaintance with the premises, and the facts as to the condition and situation of the land 
upon which they base their judgment. A form of affidavit, to be sworn to and subscribed by each witness, 
is attached, No. 42. After this proof has been made to the satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver 
will receive from the applicant the sum of twenty-five cents per acre for the land applied for; the register 
will receive and file his declaration/ and they will jointly issue, in duplicate, a certificate in the form 
attached, No. 43. One of these duplicates will be delivered to the applicant. The other will be retained 
by the register and receiver with the declaration and proof. They will bear a number according to the 



16 

order in which the certificate was issued. The register will keep a record of the certificates issued, showing 
the number, date, amount paid, name of applicant, and description of the land applied fir in each c 
and, in addition, he will note the same upon his plats and records as in eases (if ordinary entry. At the end 
ot' each month he will, with his regular returns, forward to this office an abstract of the declarations tiled 
and certificates issued under this act during the month, accompanying same with the declarations ami proofs 
tiled and the retained copy of certificate in each case. The receiver will also account for the money received 
under this act in the usual form. At any time within three years after the date of filing the declaration 
and the issue of certificate, the proper party may make satisfactory proof of having conducted water upon 
the land applied for. This proof must consist of the testimony of at least two disinterested and credible 
witnesses, who must appear in person before the register and receiver. The} - must declare that they have 
personal knowledge of the condition of the land applied for, and of the facts to which they testify; and 
their testimony must be reduced to writing in the usual manner. See forms Nos. 44 and 45. The party 
must also present and surrender the duplicate certificate issued when the declaration was filed. When this 
is done, and the final proof made to the satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver will receive the 
additional payment of one dollar per acre, receipt therefor in duplicate, as per form No. 46, and give the 
party a duplicate receipt. The register will also issue a final certificate of purchase, form No. 17. They will 
give to these final certificates and receipts a special series of numbers, and will make separate abstracts of 
same at the ruii of each month, sending up therewith the final certificates, receipts, and proofs. 

In cases where declarations shall be filed under this act for unsurveyed lands, the register and receiver 
will immediately forward copies of the declarations to the surveyor general, in order that the proper sur- 
veys may be made. The claimants will be required to take their claims by legal subdivisions when the 
lines of public surveys shall have been extended over the same. 

SALINE LANDS. 

The act of Congress of January 12, 1877, (copy attached, No. (>,) provides a mode of proceeding by 
which public lands indicated by the field-notes of survey, or otherwise, to be satin:: in character may be 
rendered subject to disposal. 

Should prima facie evidence that certain tracts are saline in character be filed with the register and 
receiver of the proper land district, they will designate a time for a hearing at their office, and give notice 
to all parties in interest in order that they may have ample opportunity to be present with their witnesses. 

At the hearing the witnesses will be thoroughly examined with regard to the true character of the 
land, anil whether the same contains any known mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other 
valuable mineral deposit, or any deposit of coal. 

The witnesses will also be examined in regard to the extent of the saline deposits upon the given 
tracts, and whether the same are claimed by any person; if so, the names of the claimants, and the extent 
of their improvements must be shown. 

The testimony should also show' the agricultural capacities of the land, what kind of crops, if any, 
have been raised thereon, and the value thereof. The testimony should be as full and complete as possible, 
and, in addition to the leading points indicated above, everything of importance bearing upon the question 
of the character of the land should be elicited at the hearing. 

The register and receiver will transmit the testimony to this office with their joint opinion thereon. 
When the ease comes before this office such a decision will be rendered in regard to the character of the 
land as the law and the facts may warrant. 

Should the given tracts be adjudged agricultural, they will be subject to disposal as such. Should the 
tracts be adjudged saline lands, the register and receiver will be instructed to offer the same for -ale, after 
public notice at the local land office of the district in which the same shall be situated, and to sell said tract 
or tracts to the highest bidder for cash, at a price of not less than one dollar and twenty-five cent- per acre. 

In case said lands fail to sell when so offered, the same will be subject to private sale at such land 



17 

office for cash, at a price of not loss than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, in the same manner as 
other public lands are sold, and already indicated herein. See page 3. 

The provisions of this act do not apply to any lands within the Territories, nor to any within the 
States of Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, California, and Nevada, none of which have had a grant of salines 
by act of Congress. 

TOWN SITES. 

The eighth chapter of the Revised Statutes of the United States, comprising sections 2380 to 2394, 
and act of Congress of March 3, 1877, (copies attached, Nos. 1 and 7,) provide for the disposal of town 
sites on the public domain. 

There are two methods by which title to such town property may be acquired, subject to the election 
of parties desiring to do so: one provided for in sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385, and the other in 
sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. The first method limits the 
extent of the area of the city or town to 640 acres, to be laid off into lots, and which, after filing in the 
General Land Office the transcript, statement, and testimony required by section 2382, are to be offered at 
public sale, to the highest bidder, at a minimum of ten dollars for each lot. Lots not thus disposed of are 
made thereafter liable to private entry at said minimum, or at such reasonable price as the Secretary of the 
Interior may order from time to time, as the municipal property may increase or decrease, after at least 
three months' notice. 

A privilege, however, is granted to any actual settler upon any one lot of pre-empting that, and any 
additional lot on which he may have "substantial improvements," at said minimum, at any time before the 
day fixed for the public sale. 

There are, however, certain preliminary conditions to be complied with in order to the enjoyment of 
the privileges granted in this section. Parties who have already founded, or may hereafter found, a city or 
town are required — 

1st. To file with the recorder of the comity in which the town or city is situate a plat thereof, not 
exceeding 640 acres, describing its exterior boundaries according to the lines of the public surveys, where 
such surveys have been executed. 

2d. Also the plat or map of such city or town must exhibit the name of the city or town, the streets, 
squares, blocks, lots, and alleys ; the size of the same, with measurements, and area of each municipal sub- 
division, the lots in which shall each not exceed 4,200 square feet, with a statement of the extent and 
general character of improvements. 

3d. Further, the said map and statement to be verified by oath by the partyjicting for and in the 
behalf of the founders of the city or town. 

4th. "Within one month after filing the map or plat with the recorder of the county, a verified copy 
of said map and statement is to be sent to the General Land Office, accompanied by the testimony of two 
witnesses that such city or town has been established in good faith. 

5th. Where the city or town is within the limits of an organized land district, a similar copy of the 
majj and statement must be filed with the register and receiver. 

Section 2383 provides for cities or towns founded on unsurveyed land, and directs that it may be 
lawful to adjust the exterior limits of the premises with the lines of the public surveys, where it can be 
done without impairing the rights of others. It also provides for the issue of patents for lots disposed of 
under these provisions as in ordinary cases. 

Section 2384 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, in case the parties interested shall fail or refuse, 
within twelve months of the founding of a city or town on the public domain, to file in the General Land 
Office a copy of the map, with the statement and testimony called for by section 2382, to cause a survey 
and plat to be made of the said city or town, and thereafter the lots to be sold as provided, at. an increase 
of fifty per cent, on the minimum price of ten dollars per lot. 

2 



18 

Sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 grant to the inhabitants of cities and towns on the public lands the 
privilege of entering the lands occupied as town sites at the minimum price of one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre, through the corporate authorities of such towns and cities, or the judges of the county 
courts acting as trustees for the occupants thereof. 

This privilege is granted where such mode of obtaining title t<> town property is preferred to that 
provided in sections 2382, 2383, 23X4, and 2385, which are not repealed by the former sections. The 
inhabitants of these towns or cities are limited, however, to one or the other of the modes provided in these 
statutes, and cannot commence proceedings under both systems. 

The provisions of sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385 were originally embodied in the acts of Con- 
gress of July 1, 18(34, and March 3, 18(35; those of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 in the act of March 2, 
18(37. Section 2394 is a re-enactment of the act of June 8, 18(38. It has reference to cases where the 
inhabitants of cities or towns proceeded to act under the provisions of the acts of July 1, 1864, and 
March 3, 18(35, prior to June 22, 1874, the date of the Revised Statutes, and in which they have partly 
proved up and paid for the lots claimed by them according to said acts. It provides for extending 
the privilege of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, if the town authorities in any such case should elect 
to proceed under them, to such of the inhabitants as may not have paid for their lots, without inter- 
fering with the issuing of patents to those who had made or might make entries or elect to proceed 
under the acts of July 1, 18(34, and March 3, 18(35, or sections 2382, 2:583, 2384, and 2385 of the 
Revised Statutes. Accordingly, should any case be presented where proceedings had been commenced, 
as aforesaid, by the inhabitants of any town or city before the date indicated, and a part of them, not 
having entered and paid for their lots, desire to take advantage of the other system referred to, they would 
be entitled, under section 2394, on application to the register and receiver of the proper district office, 
through the town authorities, pursuant to the provisions of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, to enter or file 
upon such portion of the town site as has not already been entered and paid for, and is not in possession 
of parties electing to complete their titles under the original proceedings; after which, that part of the 
town site so entered or filed upon will be disposed of under the last-mentioned sections, and the remaining 
portion, if any, under sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385. Section 2394 has no reference to any case in 
which proceedings for acquiring title to the town site were commenced subsequent to June 22, 1*71. the 
inhabitants in all such cases being restricted to the method of acquiring title according to which they may 
have commenced to act. 

Section 2394 further provides that, in addition to the minimum price of the lands included in any 
town site entered under its provisions and those of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, there shall be paid by 
the parties availing themselves thereof all costs of surveying and platting any such town site, and expenses 
incident thereto, incurred by the United States, before any patent therefor shall issue. Hence, when it is 
desired to enter a town site found upon the wnswveyed public lands, a written application should lie pre- 
sented to the surveyor general of the proper district for a survey of the same under section 2401 of tie- 
Revised Statutes, and the amount estimated by him as sufficient to cover the said cost and expenses deposited 
with any assistant United States Tn asurer or designated depositary in favor of the United States Treasurer, 
to be passed to the credit of the fund created by "Individual Depositors for the Survey of the Public 
Lands," the depositor taking a duplicate certificate of deposit, one to be filed with the surveyor general to 
be sent to the General Land Office, and the other retained by the depositor. On receiving such certificate, 
showing that the requisite sum has been deposited in a proper manner to pay for the work, the surveyor 
general will transmit to the register and receiver of the district land office his certificate of such payment 
having been made, and will contract with a competent United States deputy surveyor, and have the sur- 
vey made and returned in the same manner as other public surveys, after which the lands embraced within 
the site may be entered, or filed upon, as in the ease of town sites upon surveyed lands. 

When town sites are located upon land already surveyed, the entry must be made in conformity to 
the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and here no costs in regard to past surveys will lie exacted. 



19 

When sites are upon unswrveyed land, it will be necessary, after the extension thereto of the public survey 
to close those lines upon the exterior limits of the tovra site. 

Section 2389, it will be observed, stipulates that there shall be conceded, where the number of inhab- 
itants is one hundred and less than two hundred, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres; where 
the population is more than two hundred and less than one thousand, not exceeding six hundred and forty 
acres; and where the inhabitants number one thousand and over, not exceeding twelve hundred and eighty 
acres; and for each additional one thousand inhabitants, not exceeding five thousand in all, a further grant 
of three hundred and twenty acres. 

All military and other reservations of the United States, private grants, and valid mining claims, are 
excluded from the operation of these town-site laws. In patents issued thereunder it is expressly declared 
as follows, viz: "No title shall be hereby acquired to any mine of gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper, or any 
valid mining claim or possession held under existing laws of Congress." [Section 2392, R. S.] 

In any Territory in which a land office may not have been established, the declaratory statements 
provided for in the foregoing statutes may be filed with the surveyor general of the proper district. 

In the act of Congress of March 3, 1877, section 1 restricts the amount of land that can be reserved 
from pre-emption and homestead entry, by reason of the existence or incorporation of a town upon the 
public domain, to 2,560 acres, unless the excess shall "be actually settled upon, inhabited, improved, and 
used for business and municipal purposes." 

Section 2 confirms pre-emption and homestead entries already made within the corporate limits of a 
town, the entries being regular in all respects, provided it shall be satisfactorily shown that the lands so 
entered are "not settled upon or used for any municipal purpose, nor devoted to any public use of such 
town." 

Section 3 provides: That when it shall appear that the corporate limits of a town embrace lands in 
excess of the maximum quantity allowed, the proper authorities may select those portions that are actually 
occupied, used, and improved for municipal purposes, which lands shall be reserved from pre-emption and 
homestead entry, and the residue will be restored, or become subject to such settlement and entry. This 
selection must be made within sixty days from notice, and in default thereof, a hearing will be ordered and 
testimony taken as to the condition of the land, and such portion set apart as shall appear to be within the 
meaning of the act. 

The 4th section, with the proviso to the 2d section, provides for additional entries by towns, where 
entries have already been made, in cases in Avhich an increase in the number of inhabitants would entitle 
them to an entry of a larger area under section 2389 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, such 
entries, however, to be within the maximum amount, or 2,560 acres. 

STONE AND TIMBER LANDS. 

The first, second, and third sections of the act of Congress of June 3, 1878, (copy attached, No. 8,) 
provide for the sale of surveyed lands in California, Oregon, Nevada, and in Washington Territory not 
yet proclaimed and offered at public sale, valuable chiefly for timber and stone, unfit for cultivation, and 
consequently for disposal under the pre-emption and homestead laws. When a party applies to purchase 
a tract thereunder, the register and receiver will require him to make affidavit that he is a citizen of the 
United States by birth or naturalization, or that he has declared his intention to become a citizen under 
the naturalization laws. If native born, parol evidence of that fact will be received. If not native born, 
record evidence of the prescribed qualification must be furnished. In connection therewith, he will be 
required to make the sworn statement in duplicate, according to the attached form, No. 48, as provided for 
in the second section of the act. One of the duplicate statements filed in each case is by the act required 
to be transmitted to this office, and the registers and receivers will accordingly send up with their monthly 
.returns the duplicate statements to be transmitted for the month. 

The evidence in regard to the publication of notice required to be furnished, hi the third section of 



20 

the act, must consist of the affidavit of the publisher or other person having charge of the newspaper in 
which the notice is published, with a copy of the notice attached thereto, setting forth the nature of his 
connection with the paper, and that the notice was duly published for the prescribed period. The evidence 
required in the same section with regard to the non-mineral character of the land, and its unoccupied and 
unimproved condition, must consist of the testimony of at least two disinterested witnesses, to the effect 
that they know the facts to which they testify from personal inspection of the land and of each of its 
smallest legal subdivisions, as per form attached, No. 49. This testimony may be taken before the register 
or receiver, or any officer using an official seal and authoi'ized to administer oaths in the land district in 
which the land lies. Upon such proof being produced, if no adverse claim shall have been filed, the entry 
applied for may be allowed in pursuance of the provisions of the act. The receiver will issue his receipt 
for the purchase money, and the register his certificate of purchase, numbering the entry in the regular 
cash series. Forms of application, receipt, and certificate are attached, Nos. 10, 11, and 1± The register 
and receiver will enter the sale on their books, and make the usual returns therefor to this office, noting 
on the monthly abstracts, opposite the entry, and on the entry papers, a reference to the act of Congress 
under which allowed. They will forward all the papers in the case with their returns to this office, except 
the retained duplicate statement filed under the second section of the act, to which the register will give 
the same number with the other papers for the entry, and retain it on the appropriate file with the formal 
application in his office. 

The register and receiver will be entitled to a fee of five dollars each for allowing an entry under said 
act, and jointly at the rate of twenty-two cents and a half per hundred words for testimony reduced by 
them to writing for claimauts, which will be accounted for as other fees. 

If, at the expiration of the sixty days' notice provided for in the third section of the act, an adverse 
claim should be found to exist calling for an investigation, the register and receiver will allow the parties 
a hearing according to the rules of practice. 

In case of an association of i^crsons making application for such an entry, each of the persons must 
prove the requisite qualifications, and their names must appear in and be subscribed to the sworn statement 
as in case of an individual person. They must also unite in the regular application for entry, which -will 
be made in their joint names as in other cases of joint cash entry. The forms prescribed for cases of 
applications by individual persons may be adapted for use in applications of this class. 

PRESENTATION OF APPEALS. 

Any person making application' to file upon or enter a tract of public land, having complied with 
the law and regulations touching the presentation of such applications, and feeling aggrieved by the refusal 
of the register and receiver to recognize his claim, or by any order, direction, or condition affecting the 
same, may appeal from the action of those officers to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who 
is by law invested with the supervision and control of all matters relating to the disposal of the public 
lands, subject to the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. (Revised Statutes, sees. 453 and 2478.) 

For the purpose of enabling such appeal to be taken and perfected, the register and receiver will 
indorse upon the written application the date when presented and their reasons for refusing it, promptly 
advising the party in interest of the facts, and note upon their records a memorandum of the transaction. 
The party aggrieved will then be allowed thirty days from the receipt of notice of such action within 
which to file his appeal to the Commissioner. 

The appeal must be in writing, definitely setting forth in clear and concise terms the specific points of 
exception to the decision appealed from, and the reason or reasons upon which such exceptions are based. 

Of the sufficiency of such appeal this office will be the judge, and will dismiss from further notice 
any case wherein the appeal is based upon frivolous grounds, or where the proper formalities and grounds 
are wanting, unless, in the record itself, either of the case or upon the books of this office, some sufficient 



21 

cause shall be found for further consideration under the general power of supervision vested in the 
Commissioner by law. 

Upon objection to the finding of this office regarding an appeal, the matter will be reported to the 
honorable Secretary of the Interior for his direction therein. 

The appeal must in all cases be filed with the district officers, to be forwarded by them with a full 
report of the case to this office. 

This report should recite the proceedings had, to wit: The application aud rejection, with the reasons 
therefor, aud also the status of the tract involved, as shown by the records of the office, together with a 
reference to all entries, filings, annotations, memoranda, and correspondence shown by such record, relating 
thereto, so as to direct the attention of the Commissioner to all the material facts and issues necessary to a 
proper determination of the questions presented. 

No appeal from the decision of the register and receiver will be received at the General Land Office 
unless forwarded through the local officers in the manner herein prescribed. 

The report should be forwarded at once upon the filing of the appeal, except in contested cases after 
regular hearing, when, unless all parties request its earlier transmission, it should not be made until the 
expiration of the thirty days included in the notice, in order that all parties may have full opportunity to 
examine the record and prepare their argument upon the questions at issue. All documents once received 
must be kept on file with the cases, and no papers will be allowed under any circumstances to be removed 
from such files or taken from the custody of the register and receiver ; but access to the same under proper 
rules, so as not to interfere with necessary public business, should be permitted to the parties in interest, 
under the supervision of those officers. 

Upon any question relating to the disposal of the public lands, appeal from the decision of the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office will lie to the Secretary of the Interior, (Revised Statutes, sees. 441, 
2273,) except in cases of interlocutory orders and decisions, and orders for hearing, or other matters 
resting in the sound discretion of the Commissioner. Such latter cases constitute matters of exception, 
which should be noted, and they will be considered by the Secretary on review. 

The appeal is required to be made in writing, fairly and specifically stating the points of exception 
to the decision appealed from, and must be filed either with the register and receiver for transmission, or 
with the Commissioner, within sixty days from receipt, by the party or his attorney, of the notice of the 
decision. 

After appeal is filed, the fact of its receipt and pendency will be promptly communicated to the 
district office and to the parties, and thirty days from service of such notice will be allowed for the 
filing of argument on the points involved in the controversy. At the expiration of the time prescribed, 
the papers and record will be forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior. All arguments shall be filed 
with the Comrnistioner within the time specified in the notice, in order that they may be referred to and 
considered in transmitting the case to the Secretary, if deemed expedient by the Commissioner. Exami- 
nation of cases on appeal to the Secretary will be facilitated by filing in printed form such argument as it is 
desired to have considered. 

Decisions of the Commissioner not appealed from within the period prescribed become final, and the 
cose will be regularly closed. (Revised Statutes, sec. 2273.) 

The decision of the Secretary is necessarily final, so far as respects the action of the Executive. 

REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS. 

It is the duty of the registers and receivers to be in attendance at their offices, and give proper 
facilities and information to persons applying for lands. 

Within three days from the close of each month they are required to make out and transmit to the 
General Land Office a statement of the business of their respective offices for the preceding month. 

These reports are in the form of abstracts of pre-emption declarations and of soldiers' declarations 



22 

filed, abstracts of lands sold, abstracts of homesteads entered, abstracts of timber-culture entries allowed, 
abstracts of military bounty land warrants and of agricultural-college scrip located, accompanied by the 
certificates of purchase, receivers' receipts, homestead and timber-culture applications and affidavits, mili- 
tary bounty land warrants and agricultural-college scrip surrendered as satisfied, and the certificates of 
location thereof. Names of parties must be clearly and legibly written in these papers to correspond with 
the signature to every application; and when spelled in two or more ways, or illegibly written by the 
person signing, the register must ascertain by proper inquiry the correct orthographv and certify to the 
same upon the margin of the certificate. 

The abstracts, after being carefully examined by the register and receiver, are to be certified by 
them as correct and as in conformity with the papers iu the entries or locations embraced therein, and with 
their records, which papers, abstracts, and records must agree with each other. 

The receiver is required also to render promptly a monthly account of all moneys received, showing 
the balance due the Government at the close of each month. 

At the end of every quarter he must also transmit a quarterly account as receiver ; upon the several 
accounts an adjustment is here made, and submitted to the Treasury Department for final settlement. 

He must also render a quarterly disbursing account of all moneys expended. 

He is required to deposit the moneys received by him at some depository designated by the Secretary 
of the Treasury, when the amount on hand shall have reached the sum of one thousand dollars; and in 
no case is he authorized, without special instructions, to hold a larger amount in his hands. 

Registers and receivers of the land offices are not authorized by law to make any charge for their 
services in accepting or entering pre-emption or homestead claims, other than such as are herein set forth. 
By section 2242 of the Revised Statutes it is, among other things, provided that upon satisfactory proof 
that either of said officers has charged or received fees or other rewards not authorized by law, he shall 
forthwith be removed from office. 

Laws and instructions relating to mining claims form the subject of a separate circular. 

J. A. WILLIAMSON, 

Commissioner of the General Land Office. 



23 



[No. 1.] 

REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 2. 

REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS. 

Section 2234. There shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice Appointment of reg- 
ain! consent of the Senate, a register of the land-office and a receiver of public moneys, see an acts estaidish- 

ty it j -i» j - , .ivi Hi i log land-districts. 

tor each land-district established by law. 

Sec. 2235. Every register and receiver shall reside at the place where the land-office Residence of register 

for which he is appointed is directed by law to be kept. see an acts estabiish- 

Sec. 2236. Every register and receiver shall, before entering on the duties of his Bond of register and 

office, give bond in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars, with approved security, for the ioMay,isoo,c.55,ss. 
faithful discharge of his trust. March, 1853%. us/s.s, 

Sec. 2237. Every register and receiver shall be allowed an annual salary of five hun- salaries 'of register 

, -fin and receiver. 

dred dollars. 30 May, 1862, c. se, s. 

6, v. 12, p. 409. 20 April, 

Sec. 2238. Registers and receivers, in addition to their salaries, shall be allowed each Fees and commissions 

,t n -ii ■ /» i . i of registerand receiver. 

the following lees and commissions, namely : 4 Sept., imi, c. 16, s. 

First. A fee of one dollar for each declaratory statement filed, and for services in iSmIc'sb, s.4, v. isTp' 
acting on pre-emption claims. 

Second. A commission of one per centum on all moneys received at each receiver's 20 April, i8is, c. 123, 

„ r J v. 3, p. 466. 

omce. 

Third. A commission to be paid by the homestead applicant, at the time of entry, of 21 March, iso4, c. 38, 

one per centum on the cash price, as fixed by law, of the land applied for ; and a like ' 2b May, law, c. 75, s. 

commission when the claim is finallv established, and the certificate therefor issued as the ' 15 juiy,i87o,c. 294,8. 

J ■ 25, v. 16, p. 320. 

basis of a patent. 

Fourth. The same commission on lands entered under any law to encourage the s March, 1873, c. 277, 
growth of timber on western prairies, as allowed when the like quantity of land is entered 
with money. 

Fifth. For locating; military bounty-laud warrants issued since the eleventh day of 22 March, 1852, c. 19, 

. . . s. 2, y. 10, p. 4. 

February, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, and for locating agricultural college land- 2 July, 1862, c. 130, s. 
scrip, the same commission to be paid by the holder or assignee of each warrant or scrip, 
as is allowed for sales of the public lands for cash, at the rate of one dollar and twenty- 
five cents per acre. 

Sixth. A fee, in donation cases, of five dollars for each final certificate for one hun- 30 May, 1862, c. se, s. 
dred and sixty acres of land; ten dollars for three hundred and twenty acres'; and fifteen 
dollars for six hundred and forty acres. 

Seventh. In the location of lands by States and corporations under grants from Con- 1 July, is64, c. iog, s. 
gress for railroads and other purposes, (except for agricultural colleges,) a fee of one dollar 
for each final location of one hundred and sixty acres ; to be paid by the State or corpora- 
tion making such location. 



24 

24 April, 1820, c. si, s. Eighth. A fee of five dollars per diem for superintending public-land sales at their 

6, v. :i, p. 567. .' .... . 

respective offices; and to each receiver, mileage in going to and returning from depositing 

the public moneys received by him. 
io May, I872,ci52,s. Ninth. A fee of five dollars for filing and acting upon each application for patent or 

adverse claim filed for mineral lands, to be paid by the respective parties, 
21 March, 1864, c. 38, Tenth. Registers and receivers are allowed, jointly, at the rate of fifteen cents per 

hundred words for testimony reduced by them to writing for claimants, in establishing 

pre-emption and homestead rights, 
io May, I872,ci52,s. Eleventh. A like fee as provided in the preceding subdivision when such writing is 

done in the land-office, in establishing claims for mineral lands. 
21 March, 1864, c. 38, Twelfth. Registers and receivers in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Colo- 

orai acta establishing rado, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, are each entitled to 

land offices for Utah, ' ' ' . . . 

Wyoming, and Hon- collect and receive fifty per centum on the fees and commissions provided for in the first, 
third, and tenth subdivisions of this section. 



*j 



Fe<?s or register and Sec. 2239. The register for any consolidated land-district, in addition to the fees now 

receiver lot consoli- .. iii ini • , i i i • r> i • • p > t • i 

dated land offices. allowed by law, snail be entitled to charge and receive for making transcripts tor mdivid- 

l, 3, v. 12,' p. 131.' ' uals, or furnishing any other record information respecting public lands or land-titles in 
his consolidated land-district, such fees as are properly authorized by the tariff existing in 
the local courts of his district; and the receiver shall receive his ecpual share of such fees, 
and it shall be his duty to aid the register in the preparation of the transcripts, or giving 
the desired record information. 

Maximi fcompen- Sec. 2240. The compensation of registers and receivers, including salary, i'ec<, and 

commissions, shall in no case exceed in the aggregate three thousand dollars a year, each ; 
and no register or receiver shall receive for any one quarter or fractional quarter mure than 



sation for registers and 



21 March, 1864, c. 38 
i.6,T.13,p.36. 20 April 
. :i, p. m 



IMS. ,-. 123, v.:), p. 166. ,, r. , 

20 May, i862,e.75,s.6, a pro-rata allowance ot such maximum. 

v. 12, p. 393. 30 May, 



1862, c. 86, s. 6, V. 12, p. 
409. l.lnlv, 1864,0. 196, 
s. 1, v. 13, p. 3M. 22 
March, 1852, c. 10, s. :s, 
v. 10,p.4. 2 July, ism. 
c. 130, s. 7, v. 12, p. 505. 
2 Feb., 1859, c. 19, v, 11, 
p.378. 18 Feb., 1861. c. 
38, as. 1,3, v. 12, p. 131. 
—U.S. i». Babbit, 1 Bl., 
55 

Excess <.f compensa- Sec. 2241. Whenever the amount of compensation received at any land-office exceeds 

tion to lie paid into . . - ' , 

Tre asury. the maximum allowed by law to any register or receiver, the excess shall be paid into tin- 

3 March, 1853, c. 117, s. _, , ... ° 

i.v. in, ,,.2ui. i8Feb., ireasury, as other public moneys. 

1861,0. 38,88. 1,3, v. 12, 

'' i Hi-Hi fees: penalty. Sec. 2242. No register or receiver shall receive any compensation out of the Treasury 

s. t"v M i'i'i,' !',.' [f 5 ^ - 19 ; for past services who has charged or received illegal fees; and, on satisfactory proof that 
(i, V. i'i"'jV :'nii 4 ' c ' 84, 8 ' either of such officers has charged or received fees or other rewards not authorized by law, 
he shall be forthwith removed from office. 
Compensation of reg- Sec. 2243. The compensation of registers and receivers, both for salary and commis- 

wiiento'c mmi mv. '' sions, shall commence and be calculated from the time they, respectively, enter on the 

24 Feb, 1855,0. 124, 8. ]• i c il • 1 j. 1 

a, v. in, p. 615. discharge of their duties. 

Duration of office of Sec. 2241. All registers and receivers shall be appointed for the term of four wars, 

re gister s and receivers. , , , ,, , , i , 

~"i5May7iiiai,c. io2, s. but shall be removable at pleasure. 
'Monthly and quar- Sec. 2245. The receivers shall make to the Secretary of the Treasury monthly returns 

terly returns of receiv- „ , , . , . . „, - , . . 

ers. of the moneys received m their several offices, and pay over such money pursuant to his 

9, v. sip' hi.'' s ' instructions. And they shall also make to the Commissioner of the General Land < I 

like monthly returns, and transmit to him quarterly a •counts-current of the debits and 

credits of their several offices with the United States. 



13, v. 5, p. 112. 



25 

Sec. 2246. The register or receiver is authorized, and it shall be their duty, to admin- , oaths administered 

° ' * \ by registers and' recoiv- 

ister any oath required by law or the instructions of the General Land-Office, in connec- «i 

i> 12 June, 1840, c. 35, v. 

tion with the entry or purchase of any tract of the public lands ; but he shall not charge 5, p. ssi. 
or receive, directly or indirectly, any compensation for administering such oath. 

Sec. 2247. If any person applies to any register to enter any land whatever, and the Penalty for fai.se m- 

i A i i • V* l • 1 11 ^'liuitiuii by register. 

register knowingly and ialsely informs the person so applying that the same has already 4 July, is36, c. 352, 
been entered, and refuses to permit the person so applying to enter the same, such register 
shall be liable therefor to the person so applying, for five dollars for each acre of land 
which the person so applying offered to enter, to be recovered by action of debt in any 
court of record having jurisdiction of the amount. 

********* 



Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— C1-1. 4. 

Pre-emjjtions. 
Sec. 2257. All lands belonging to the United States, to which the Indian title has Lands subject to pre- 

dilution 

been or may hereafter be extinguished, shall be subject to the right of pre-emption, under "2 '"". Juno, 1802, c. 04, s. 

, -,. . .. -,.,. 'ill! ], v. 12, p. 413. 

the conditions, restrictions, and stipulations provided by law. 

Sec. 2258. The following classes of lands, unless otherwise specially provided for by lands not subject to 

'. . r J I J pre-emption^ 

law, shall not be subject to the rights of pre-emption, to-wit: 4 Sept., isii, c. w, s. 

10, v. 5, p. 455. 



First. Lands included in any reservation by any treaty, law, or proclamation of the 
President, for any purpose. 

Second. Lands included within the limits of any incorporated town, or selected as wiicoxus. Jackson, 13 

. ■ Pet, 40S ; Josephs us. U. 

the site ot a city or town. s., 1 n. and h., m ■, 

m •-1/1 a ii* -i burner vs. American 

Third. Lands actually settled and occupied for purposes of trade and business, and Baptist union, 5 Mc- 

J r r 1 > Lean, 344; U.S. »s. Kail- 

not for agriculture. ™ ad B ™ige Co., °„ Itc " 

o Lean, 517; Russell vs. 

Fourth. Lauds on which are situated any known salines or mines. Bo<!be ' Hem P 3 -. ™- 

Sec. 2259. Every person, being the head of a family, or widow, or single person, Persons entitled to 
over the age of twenty-one years, and a citizen of the United States, or having filed a "Tsopt., ish, c . ie, s . 
declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, who has ~ u's!'i»!' Fitzgerald, 15 
made, or hereafter makes, a settlement in person on the public lands subject to pre-emption, Kansas! '9 ^How™' 333 J 
and who inhabits and improves the same, and who has erected or shall erect a dwelling u^iahm, 377; Bar- 
thereon, is authorized to enter with the register of the land-office for the district in which ley's Heirs, is How., Iij 
such land lies, by legal subdivisions, any number of acres not exceeding one hundred and How., 6; iiarkness n. 

. „ V , . t .t o ii- • Underbill, 1 Bl., 325; 

sixty, or a quarter section ot land, to include the residence ot such claimant, upon paying witkcrspoon »>. Dun- 

,'_.-_ . ' ATT! ' ■ Ca "> 4 Wal1 ' 218 " 

to the United States the minimum price of such land. 

Sec. 2260. The following classes of persons, unless otherwise specially provided for Persons .not entitled 

, . ,. n i to pre-emption. 

by law, shall not acquire any right of pre-emption under the provisions of the preceding 4 Sept., isii, c. 10, s. 

. 10, v. 5, p. 455. 

sections, to wit: 

First. No person who is the proprietor of three hundred and twenty acres of land 
in any State or Territory. 

Second. No person who quits or abandons his residence on his own land to reside on 
the public land in the same State or Territory. 

Sec. 2261. No person shall be entitled to more than one pre-emptive right by virtue Limitation of pro- 
of the provisions of section twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine; nor where a party has 4 Sept., iW, c. m, s . 
filed his declaration of intention to claim the benefits of such provisions, for one tract of 3Marcn,i843,c.Su;s. 
land, shall he file, at any future time, a second declaration for another tract. 



26 

ist w t herefiiea e ^nait n ' ^ Ec# ^262. Before any person claiming the benefit of this chapter is allowed to enter 

4 Sept., 1841, c. 16, s. lands, he shall make oath before the receiver or register of the land-district in which the 

13 v 5 p 456 

land is situated that he has never had the benefit of any right of pre-emption under section 
twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine ; that he is not the owner of three hundred and twenty 
acres of land in any State or Territory ; that he has not settled upon and improved such 
land to sell the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his own exclu- 
sive use; and that he has not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in 
any way or manner, with any person whatever, by which the title which he might acquire 
from the Government of the United States should inure in whole or in part to the benefit 
of any person except himself; and if any person taking such oath swears falsely in the 
premises, he shall forfeit the money which he may have paid for such land, and all right 
and title to the same ; and any grant or conveyance which he may have made, except in 
the hands of bona-fide purchasers, for a valuable consideration, shall be null and void, 
except as provided in section twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight. And it shall be the 
duty of the officer administering such oath to file a certificate thereof in the public land- 
office of such district, and to transmit a duplicate copy to the General Land-Office, either 
of which shall be good and sufficient evidence that such oath was administered according 
to law. 
Proof of settlement; Sec. 2263. Prior to anv entries being made under and by virtue of the provisions of 

assignment of pre-emp- . * . 

tion rights. section twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine, proof of the settlement and improvement 

12, v. 5, p'. 456. ' ''_^ thereby required shall be made to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the land- 
How.* e 333; cunning- district in which such lands lies, agreeably to such rules as may be prescribed by the Sec- 
377; Barnard's Heirs vs. retary of the Interior; and all assignments and transfers of the right hereby secured, prior 

Ashley's Heirs, 18 How., , i . . <> i 

44; Garland vs. wynn, to the issuing of the patent, shall be null and void. 

20 How., 6; Lytle vs., D x ' 

Arkansas, 22 How., 193 ; 

Harkness vs. Underhill, 

1 Bl., 325; Lindsey vs. 

Hawse, 2 Bl.,554; Myers 

vs. Croft, 13 Wall., 291. ... 

statement to be filed Sec. 2264. When any person settles or improves a tract of land subiect at the time 

by settler with intent to . 

purchase, on lands sub- f settlement to private entry, and intends to purchase the same under the preceding pro- 
ject to private entry. ■■■ •> ' _■*■ *■ o .x 

4 Sept., 1841, c. io, s. visions of this chapter, he shall, within thirty days after the date of such settlement, file 
with the register of the proper district a written statement, describing the land settled 
upon, and declaring his intention to claim the same under the pre-emption laws ; and he 
shall, moreover, within twelve months after the date of such settlement, make the proof, 
affidavit, and payment hereinbefore required. If he fails to file such written statement, or 
to make such affidavit, proof, and payment within the several periods named above, the 
tract of land so settled and improved shall be subject to the entry of any other purchaser. 

claim filed by settler Sec. 2265. Every claimant under the pre-emption law for land not yet proclaimed 

on land not proclaimed „ - . , . . . . , . . •.• , r\ • j. 1? .1 11 

for sale. tor safe is required to make known his claim in writing to the register ot the proper land- 

5, v. 5^620. '°' ' s ' office within three months from the time of the settlement, giving the designation of the 

13 J w^7i' TawsIey ' tract and the time of settlement; otherwise his claim shall be forfeited and the tract 

awarded to the next settler, in the order of time, on the same tract of land, who has given 

such notice and otherwise complied with the conditions of the law. 

Declaratory state- Sec. 2266. In regard to settlements which are authorized upon unsurveyed lands, 

ment of settlers on un- ° 

surveyed lands, when the pre-emption claimant shall be in all cases required to file his declaratory statement 
30 May, 1862, c. so, s. within three months from the date of the receipt at the district land-office of the approved 

7, v. 12, p. 410. f x A 

plat of the township embracing such pre-emption settlement. 
Pre-emption claim- Sec. 2267. All claimants of pre-emption rights, under the two preceding sections, 

ants; time of making -iii 11 r> j /» 

proof and payment, shall, when no shorter time is prescribed by law, make the proper proof and payment for 
s. 2, v. i6, p. 279. 3 the land claimed within thirty months after the date prescribed therein, respectively, for 

March, 1871, Res. 52, v. . . . , 

16, p. 601. filing their declaratory notices, has expired. 



2? 

Sec. 2268. Where a pre-emptor Las taken the initiatory steps required bv law in Extension of time m 

, ,1 i • n i n i i ii" t • certain cases to persona 

regard to actual settlement, and is called away trom such settlement by being engaged in >■> military and naval 
the military or naval service of the United States, and by reason of such absence is unable n March, is«, c. -m, 
to appear at the district land-office to make before the register or receiver the affidavit, 
proof, and payment, respectively, required by the preceding provisions of this chapter, the 
time for filing such affidavit and making final proof and entry or location shall be extended 
six months after the expiration of his term of service, upon satisfactory proof by affidavit, 
or the testimony of witnesses, that such pre-emptor is so in the service, being filed with 
the register of the land-office for the district in which his settlement is made. 

Sec. 22<)9. Where a party entitled to claim the benefits of the pre-emption laws dies Deathbeforeconsum- 

i> • " j?i* • -i mating claim; who to 

before consummating his claim, by filing in due time all the papers essential to the astab- complete, fa. 

li.-hment of the same, it shall be competent for the executor or administrator of the estate 2,v.5,p.&o. 
of such party, or one of his heirs, to file the necessary papers to complete the same ; but 
the entry in such cases shall be made in favor of the heirs of the deceased pre-emptor, and 
a patent thereon shall cause the title to inure to such heirs, as if their names had been 
specially mentioned. 

Sec. 2270. Whenever the vacancy of the office either of register or receiver, or of Non-compUancewith 
both, renders it impossible for the claimant to comply with any requisition of the pre- inoffiee'of llXw'i'^r 
emption laws within the appointed time, such vacancy shall not operate to the detriment 3Mareh,i843,c.86,g! 
of the party claiming, in respect to any matter essential to the establishment of his claim; ST " ,p ' jJ ' 
but such requisition must be complied with within the same period after the disability is 
removed as would have been allowed had such disability not existed. 

Sec. 2271. The provisions of this chapter shall be so construed as not to confer on No pre-emption of 
any one a right of pre-emption, by reason of a settlement made on a tract theretofore armed by Land-Office. 
disposed of, when such disposal has not been confirmed by the General Land-Office, on v.o,p.6aL 
account of any alleged defect therein. 

Sec. 2272. Nothing in the provisions of this chapter shall be construed to preclude Purchase by private 

■ i /•! i {• • • i ' r- entry after expiration 

any person, who may have filed a notice of intention to claim any tract of land by pre- rf pre-emption right. 
emption, trom the right allowed by law to others to purchase such tract by private entry 9,v.5,p.e2i. 
after the expiration of the right of pre-emption. 

SBC. Tll'i. When two or more persons settle on the same tract of land, the right of When more than one 
pre-emption shall be in him who made the first settlement, provided such person conforms ^ai<V.. commi^,"!^ 
to the otlji c provision of the law; and all questions as to the right of pre-emption arising u,v.6?p'.466.' € 
between different settlers shall be determined by the register and receiver of the district s. io,'v','"i,'|, 
within which the land is situated; and appeals from the decision of district officers, in HwrSS^GarianT" 
- of contest for the right of pre-emption, shall be made to the Commissioner of the . , ," " 'if', ','-" u -'i:i' ':.',"i'- 
General Land-Office, whose decision shall be final, unless appeal therefrom betaken to der,iwau., n ioo;john- 

i . „ , . son 1 1. Tawsley, 13 

the secretary ol the Lntenor. waii.,72. 

8b . 2271. When settlements have been made upon agricultural public land- of the settlement* of two or 
United States, prior to the survey thenof, and it has been or shall be ascertained, after the subdivision !.. ■!,'!.'. •""!"- 
public Burveye have been extended over such lands, that two or more settlers have s March, ms, 0. sas, 
improvements upon the same legal subdivision, it shall be lawful for such settler- to make 

joint entry of their land- at the local land-otliee, or for either of -aid settlers to enter into 

contract with bis co-settlers to convey to them their portion of said land after a patent is 
issued to him, and. after making such contract, to file a declaratory statement in hi- own 
name, and prove up and pay for -aid land, and proof of joint occupation by him-elf and 
others, and of such contract with them made, shall !*• equivalent to proof of sole occupa- 
tion and pre-emption bj the applicant: Provided^ That in no case shall the amount 



28 

patented under this section exceed one hundred and sixty acres, nor shall this section 
apply to lands not subject to homestead or pre-emption entry, 
settlements before but- Sec. 2275. Where settlements, with a view to pre-emption, have been made before 

deficiencies thereof, the survey of the lands in the field, which are found to have been made on sections sixteen 
iCi'i. 385.' 'or thirty-six, those sections shall be subject to the pre-emption claim of such settler; and 

if they, or either of them, have been or shall be reserved or pledged for the use of schools 
or colleges in the State or Territory in which the lands lie, other lands of like quantity are 
appropriated in lieu of such as may be patented by pre-emptors; and other lands are also 
appropriated to compensate deficiencies for school purposes, where sections sixteen or thirty- 
six are fractional in quantity, or where one or both are wanting by reason of the township 
being fractional, or from any natural cause whatever. 
Selections to supply Sec. 2276. The lands appropriated bv the preceding section shall be selected, within 

deficiencies of school -,,-.... i .,,„♦,..., ,. 

lands- the same land-chstnct, in accordance with the following principles ot adjustment, to wit : 

n, p. 38s'.' ' For each township or fractional township, containing a greater quantity of land than threc- 

20 May, 1826, c. 83, s. . ,. . _ „ . , , . 

i, v. 4, p. 179. quarters ot an entire township, one section ; for a fractional township, containing a greater 

quantity of land than one-half, and not more than three-quarters, of a township, three- 
quarters of a section ; for a fractional township, containing a greater quantity of land than 
one-quarter, and not more than one-half, of a township, one half-section; and for a frac- 
tional township, containing a greater quantity of land than one entire section, and not more 
than one-quarter of a township, one quarter-section of land. 
Military bounty-land Sec. 2277. All warrants for military bounty-lands, which are issued under any law 

pre-emption payments, of the United States, shall be received in payment of pre-emption rights at the rate of one 
s. l, v. io, p! 3. ' ' dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, for the quantity of land therein specified ; but where 
the land is rated at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and does not exceed the area 
specified in the warrant, it must be taken in full satisfaction thereof. 
Agricuihirai-coiiege Sec. 2278. Agricultural-college scrip, issued to any State under the act approved July 

scrip receivable in pay- ° or? j i l j 

mont of pre-empaons. second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, or acts amendatory thereof, shall be received from 

1 July, 1870, C.19G.V. , , . n .,..-. , , 

is, p. 186. actual settlers in payment of pre-emption claims in the same manner and to the same extent 

as authorized in case of military bounty-land warrants, by the preceding section. 
Pre-emption limit Sec. 2279. No person shall have the right of pre-emption to more than one hun- 

alon g railroad lines. _ , ii« p m i • l • l t • l i r 

3 March, 1858, c. 143, area and sixty acres along the line ot railroads within the limits granted by any act ot 

v. 10, p. 244. „ 

Congress. 

Pre-emption rights Sec. 2280. Any settler on lands heretofore reserved on account of claims under 

grants found invalid . French, Spanish, or other grants, which have been or may be hereafter declared by the 

Y.io,p.244. "'Supreme Court of the United States to be invalid, shall be entitled to all the rights of 

pre-emption granted by the preceding provisions of this chapter, after the lands have been 

released from reservation, in the same manner as if no reservation had existed. 

Pre-emption rights Sec. 2281. All settlers on public lands which have been or may be withdrawn from 

on lands reserved for . *■ * . 

railroads. market in consequence of proposed railroads, and who had settled thereon prior to such 

v.io, p.269'. ' withdrawal, shall be entitled to pre-emption at the ordinary minimum to the lands settled 

2, v. 16, p'. 279.' ' on and cultivated by them; but they shall file the proper notices of their claims and make 
proof and payment as in other cases, 
sale of land not to he Sec. 2282. Nothing contained in this chapter shall delay the sale of any of the public 

4 Sept., i84i, c 16, s. lands beyond the time appointed by the proclamation of the President. 

bertainiandsinKan- Sec. 2283. The Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands in the State of Kan- 

sas, how to be Bold. . ,. , i ,i • • i • • i t • i n i i • 

g M;,.v, 1872, c. 14971 sas > excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections m each townsmp, snail be subject to 
disposal, for cash only, to actual settlers, in quantities not exceeding one hundred and sixty 
acres, or one quarter-section to each, in compact form, in accordance with the general prin- 



20 May, 1824, c. 10U, 
1, v. 4, p. 50. 



29 

ciples of the preemption laws, under the direction of the Commissioner of the General 
Land-Office; but claimants shall file their declaratory statements as prescribed in other 
cases upon unoffered lands, and shall pay for the tracts, respectively, settled upon within 
one year from date of settlement where the plat of survey is on file at that date, and 
within one year from the filing of the township-plat in the district office where such plat 
is not on file at date of settlement. 

Sec. 2284. The sale or transfer of his claim upon any portion of these lands by any Transfer of abovo 
settler prior to the twenty-sixth day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, shall sequ ent right of e'Mry . 
not operate to preclude the right of entry, under the provisions of the preceding section, 3, v. wfp. ao. ' °', ' ' ' 
upon another tract settled upon subsequent to such sale or transfer ; but satisfactory proof 
of good faith must be furnished iqion such subsequent settlement. 

Sec. 2285. The restrictions of the pre-emption laws, contained in sections twenty- p re -em P tion restric- 
two hundred and sixty and twenty-two hundred and sixty-one, shall not apply to any cm-tain lands in Kan- 
settler on the Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands in the State of Kansas, ~j May, 1572, c. no, a. 
who was actually residing on his claim on the ninth day of May, eighteen hundred and ' v ' ' p ' 
seventy-two. 

Sec. 2286. There shall be granted to the several counties or parishes of each State Pre-emption by coun- 
and Territory, where there are public lands, at the minimum price for which public lands 
of the United States are sold, the right of pre-emption to one quarter-section of land, in 
each of the counties or parishes, in trust for such counties or parishes, respectively, for the 
establishment of seats of justice therein; but the proceeds of the sale of each such quarter- 
section shall be appropriated for the purpose of erecting public buildings in the county or 
parish for which it is located, after deducting therefrom the amount originally paid for the 
same. And the seat of justice for such counties or parishes, respectively, shall be fixed 
previously to a sale of the adjoining lands within the county or parish for which the same 
is located. 

Sec. 2287. Any bona-fide settler under the homestead or pre-emption laws of the wiiero claimant of 

T . 1C1 ii/Mii i • • n entry becomes register 

United states who lias filed the proper application to enter not to exceed one quarter- or receiver. 

section of the public lands in any district land-office, and who has been subsequently i<Cv. 17, p! 10. 
appointed a register or receiver, may perfect the title to the land under the pre-emption 
laws by furnishing the proofs and making the payments required by law, to the satisfac- 
tion of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office. 

Sec. 2288. Any person who has already settled or hereafter may settle on the public Eight of transfer of 
lauds, either by pre-emption or by virtue of the homestead law or any amendments thereto, stead or pre-emption 

.,. «ni 1:lAVS for certain public 

shall have the right to transfer, by warranty against lus own acts, any portion of his pre- imn»scs. 

emption or homestead for church, cemetery, or school purposes, or for the right of way of c. 206, v. 17, p. 60k 
railroads across such pre-emption or homestead, and the transfer for such public purposes 
shall in no way vitiate the right to complete and perfect the title to their pre-emptions or 
homesteads. 

Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 5. 

Homesteads. 



Who may enter cor- 



Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age 
of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his declaration public lands! 1 "" 1 '"'' 
of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, shall be entitled to i, *.' i^'p"; 3H 2 ' c ' 75 ' s ' 
enter one quarter-section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which 
such person may have filed a pre-emption claim, or which may, at the time the application 
is made, be subject to pre-emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; or eighty 



30 

acres or less of such unappropriated lands at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be 
located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after 
the same have been surveyed. And every person owning and residing on land may, under 
the provisions of this section, enter other land lying contiguous to his land, which shall 
not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred 
and sixty acres. 

Mode of procedure. Sec 2290. The person applying for the benefit of the preceding section shall, upon 

application to the register of the land-office in which he is about to make such entry, make 



21 June, 1SC0, c. 127, 
. 2, v. 14, p. G7. 
20 May, 1862, c. 75, s 



2, v. 12, p.' 392."' ' °' b ' affidavit before the register or receiver that he is the head of a family, or is twenty-one 
s. 2, v. 13, p'. 35. ' ' years or more of age, or has performed service in the Army or Navy of the United States, 
and that such application is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and that his entry is 
made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indi- 
rectly for the use or benefit of any other person; and upon filing such affidavit with the 
register or receiver, on payment of five dollars when the entry is of not more than eighty 
acres, and on payment of ten dollars when the entry is for more than eighty acres, he 
shall thereupon be permitted to enter the amount of land specified, 
certificate and pat Sec. 2291. No certificate, however, shall be given, or patent issued therefor, until the 

ent, when given and . ~ ' 

issued - expiration of five years from the date of such entry : and if at the expiration of such time, 

21 June, 1866, c. 127, x . / . , , i . \ . o i i 

s. 2, v. 14, p. 67. or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry; or if he be 

dead, his widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or in case of a widow 
making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death, proves by two credible wit- 
nesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five 
years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit, and makes affidavit that no 
part of such land has been alienated, except as provided in section twenty-two hundred 
and eighty-eight, and that he, she, or they will bear true allegiance to the Government of 
the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time citizens of the 
United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided by law. 
when rights inure Sec. 2292. In case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child 

to the benefit of infant ( 

children - or children under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of 

21 June, 1866, c. 127, . . „ , .. , , .. 1 t i ■, • • i- 

s. 2, v. 14, p. 07. such infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any 

time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the 
laws of the State in which such children, for the time being, have their domicile, sell the 
land for the benefit of such infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall 
acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States 
on the payment of the office fees and sum of money above specified. 
Persons in military Sec. 2293. In case of any person desirous of availing himself of the benefits of this 

or naval service, when ,..,.,. i • /» i tt • i 

and before whom to chapter, but who, by reason of actuaf service in the military or naval service ot the United 

make affidavit. . .. ••lij^i-ii 

21 March, 1864, c. 38, States, is u nable to do the personal preliminary acts at the district land-office which the 
preceding sections require; and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the 
land which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement 
have been made, such person may make the affidavit required by law before the officer 
commanding in the branch of the service in which the party is engaged, which affidavit 
shall be as binding in law, and with like penalties, as if taken before the register or re- 
ceiver; and upon such affidavit being filed with the register by the wife or other represent- 
ative of the party, the same shall become effective from the date of such filing, provided the 
application and affidavit are accompanied by the fee and commissions as required by 
law. 



31 

Sec. 2294. In any case in which the applicant for the benefit of the homestead, and when persons may 

rr _ make affidavit before 

whose familv, or some member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to enter, clerk of oonrt 

■ ' ' ° . - 21 March, 1804, c. 38, 

and upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement have been made, is prevented, b. 3, v. 13, p. 35. 
by reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other good cause, from personal attendance at 
the district land-office, it may be lawful for him to make the affidavit required by law 
before the clerk of the court for the county in which the applicant is an actual resident, 
and to transmit the same, with the fee and commissions, to the register and receiver. 

Sec. 22!»"j. The register of the land-office shall note all applications under the pro- Record of appiica- 
visions of this chapter, on the tract-books and plats of liis office, and keep a register of all 20 >\^\ ^..--, - 
Buch entries, and make return thereof to the General Land-Office, together with the proof ' 
upon which they have been founded. 

Sec. 2296. No lands acquired under the provisions of this chapter shall in any event Homestead laudsnot 

>■ L L "to be subject t<> prior 

become liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of the patent ' 1 " 1 "*- 



20 May, 1862, .-.75, s. 

therefor. ■»• »■ "-'• !•■*«■ 

Sec. -'2'.)~. If, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required in section when lands entered 

° ' * lor homestead revert !■■ 

twenty-two hundred and ninety, and before the expiration of the five years mentioned in Government 

• . ..... .' , , 20 May, 1- _ 

section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one, it is proved, alter due notice to the settler, to 5,v.i2,p 
the satisfaction of the register of the land-office, that the p irson having filed such affidavit 

ictually changed his residence, or abandoned the land for more than six months at 
any time, then and in that (■vent the land bo entered shall revert to the Government. 

Si;< . 2298. No person shall be permitted to acquire title to more than one quarter- Limitation of amount 

. . ,• 1 ■ 1 entered lor homest) ad. 

section under the provisions of tins chapter. 20 Hay, u 

. 2299. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be so construed as to impair or Existing pre-emption 

r. ' . , . . ... ... . . rights not iniimired. 

interfere m any manner With existing pre-emption rights; and all persons who may have 26 May, isoa, cTtcTs: 
filed (heir applications for a pre-emption right priorto the twentieth day of .May, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-two, shall be entitled to all the privileges of this chapter. 

>u . 2300. No person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period not less wuai minora y 

1 /> i-i x' „ , ' . . . . . have the privili 

than fourteen days m the Army or Wavy of the I nited states, either regular or volunteer, this chapter. 
under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war. domestic or foreign, shall o,v. i2,p 
U' deprived of the benefits of this chapter on account of not having attained the age of 
twenty-one years. 

SEC. 2301. Nothing in this chapter shall be so eon-trued as to prevent any person Paj nts iiefore ex- 

who ha- availed himself of the benefits of Bection twenty-two hundred and eighty-nine, rights of ap plicant, 
from paying the minimum price for the quantity of land so entered, at any time before - : . 12,1 
the expiration of the five year-, and obtaining a patent therefor from the Government, as 
in other cases directed by law, on making proof of settlement and cultivation as provided 
by law, granting pre-emption rights. 

. 'l-Vvl. No distinction -hall be made in the construction or execution of this Nodisancti »«■- 

1 /• 1 1 11 - • 1 1 1 1 i- 1 1 1 ■■•""' '•' nweor color, 

chapter on account 01 race or color: nor .-hall any mmend land- be liable to entry and ** 

...... " Jl .Iuiih. im;.;. ,. 127, 

settlement under its provisions. *. 1, v. 14, p. 67. 

Sec. 2303. All the public lands in the Mate- of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, n Jane, um, & m, 
Arkansas, and Florida shall be disposed of in no other manner than according to the !:■!• .1-1 
terms and stipulations contained in the preceding provisions of this chapter. ».i°.i> ''■ 

Sec. 2304. Every private soldier and officer who has served in the Army of the s.i.ii.-r-- and 
United State- during the recent rebellion, for ninety day-, and who was honorably dis- .. 
ehar-iil, and has remained loyal to the Government, including the t mop- mustered into 
the serviceofthe United States by virtue of the third section of an act approved Februarj 
thirteen, ■ - i ■_: 1 1 1 « - . n hundred and sixty-two, and every seaman, marine, and officer who has 



Deduction of military 
niul liuval service fruiu 
time, &c. 



32 

served in the Navy of the United States, or in the .Marine Corp-;, during the rebellion, 
for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and lias remained loyal to the Gov- 
ernment, shall, on compliance with the provisions of this chapter, as hereinafter modified, 
be entitled to enter upon and receive patents for a quantity of public lands not exceeding 
one hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter-section, to be taken in compact form, according 
to legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserved sections of public land along the 
line of any railroad or other public work, not otherwise reserved or appropriated, and 
other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws of the United States; but such 
homestead settler shall be allowed six months after locating bis homestead, and tiling his 
declaratory statement, within which to make his entry and commence his settlement and 
improvement. 

Sec. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has served in the Army, Navy, or 
Marine Corps, shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, or if 
i,v.i7,p " discharged on account of wounds received or disability incurred in the line of duty, then 

the term of enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, 
without reference to the length of time he may have served ; but no patent shall issue to 
any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead 
for a period of at least one year after he shall have commenced his improvements. 
Poroonswhohaveen- Sec. 2806. Every person entitled, under the provisions of section twenty-three 

m.tm, rights of. ' hundred and four, to enter a homestead who may have heretofore entered, under the 
2,v.i7"p.333.' c ' "homestead laws, a quantity of land less than one hundred and sixty acres, shall be per- 
mitted to enter so much land as, when added to the quantity previously entered, shall not 
exceed one hundred and sixty acres, 
waow and minor Sec. 2307. In case of the death of any person who would be entitled to a home- 

tuied to homestead, &c, stead under the provisions of section twenty-three hundred and four, his widow, if un- 
s, v. I; ! '"' married, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian 

duly appointed and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled 
to all the benefits enumerated in this chapter, subject to all the provisions as to settlement 
and improvement therein contained ; but if such person died during his term of enlistment, 
the whole term of his enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to 
perfect the title. 
A.inui Borvico in the Sec. 2308. Where a party at the date of his entry of a tract of land under the home- 

Aiiiivni Navy equiva- 11 utii i i • i 

lent to residence, Ac, stead Jaws, or subsequently thereto, was actually enlisted and employed in the Army or 
i, v. n, p. 333.' ' ' Navy of the United States, his services therein shall, in the administration of such home- 
stead laws, be construed to be equivalent, to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the 
same length of time upon the tract so entered. And if his entry has been canceled by 
reason of his absence from such tract while in the military or naval service of the United 
States, and such tract has not been disposed of, his entry shall be restored; but if such 
tract has been disposed of, the party may enter another tract subject to entry under the 
homestead laws, and his right to a patent therefor may be determined by the proofs touch- 
ing his residence and cultivation of the first tract and his absence therefrom in such 
service. 
wi,o may enter by Sec. 2309. Every soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or other person coming within the 

"gj une, 1872,0.338 s, provisions of section twenty-three hundred and four, may, as well by an agent as in person, 
' p ' enter upon such homestead by filing a declaratory statement, as in pre-emption cases ; but 

such claimant in person shall within the time prescribed make his actual entry, commence 
settlements and improvements on the same, and thereafter fulfill all the requirements of 
law. 



. i, v. 13, p. 502. 



33 
Sec. 2310. Each of the chiefs, warriors, and heads of families of the Stockbridge chiefs, &c, of stock- 

bridge Munsoos, homo- 

Mimsee tribes of Indians residing in tlie county of Shawana, State of Wisconsin, may, stead rights of. 

t it • r- i n , «• ,i t . ■ • i t ti ,-,i i 3 March, 1865, o. 127, 

under the direction ot the secretary ot the Interior, enter a homestead and become entitled s. i, v. 13, p. oia. 
to all the benefits of this chapter, free from any fee or charge; and any part of their present 
reservation, which is abandoned for that purpose, may be sold, under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Interior, and the proceeds applied for the benefit of such Indians as may 
settle on homesteads, to aid them in improving the same. 

Sec. 2311. The homestead secured, by virtue of the preceding section, shall not be Exemptions of home- 
subject to any tax, levy, or sale; nor shall it be sold, conveyed, mortgaged, or in any Mmisc°s. 
manner incumbered, except upon the decree of the district court of the United States, as s , 4, V. 'is, p. 502. °' " ' 
provided iu the following section : 

Sec. 2312. Whenever any of the chiefs, warriors, or heads of families of the tribes stockbridge Munsees 
mentioned in section twenty-three hundred and ten, having filed with the clerk of the dis- ~t M im "ii, lsiir., c. 127, 
triet court of the United States a declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States, and to dissolve all relations with any Indian tribe, two years previous 
thereto, appears iu such court, and proves to the satisfaction thereof, by the testimony of 
two citizens, that for five years last past he has adopted the habits of civilized life; that he 
has maintained himself and family by his own industry ; that he reads and speaks the 
English language; that he is well disposed to become a peaceable and orderly citizen; and 
that he has sufficient capacity to manage his own affairs ; the court may enter a decree ad- 
mitting him to all the rights of a citizen of the United States, and thenceforth he shall be 
no longer held or treated as a member of any Indian tribe, but shall be entitled to all the 
rights and privileges, and be subject to all the duties and liabilities to taxation of other 
citizens of the United States. But nothing herein contained shall be construed to deprive 
such chiefs, warriors, or heads of families of annuities to which they are or may be entitled. 



Title nxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 8. 

RESERVATION AND SALE OF TOWN-SITES ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

Sec. 2380. The President is authorized to reserve from the public lands, whether Town-sites to be re- 
surveyed or unsurveyed, town-sites on the shores of harbors, at the junction of rivers, 3March,i863,c.8o,s. 
important portages, or any natural or prospective centers of population. ' v ' 12 ' p- 7o4 ' 

Sec. 2381. When, in the opinion of the President, the public interests require it, it Reservations to bo 
shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to cause any of such reservations, or part b TMaroi" sea" c, so, ». 
thereof, to' be surveyed into urban or suburban lots of suitable size, and to fix by appraise- '' T ' 12 ' p ' 75 ' 
ment of disinterested persons their cash value, and to offer the same for sale at public 
outcry to the highest bidder, and theuce afterward to be held subject to sale at private 
entry according to such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe; but no 
lot shall be disposed of at public sale or private entry for less than the appraised value 
thereof. And all such sales shall be conducted by the register and receiver of the land- 
office in the district in which the reservation may be situated, in accordance with the 
instructions of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office. 

Sec. 2382. In any case in which parties have already founded, or may hereafter Town or city sites in 
desire to found, a city or town on the public lands, it may be lawful for them to cause to '"l'j'niy.'iaM, c, ae, s. 
be filed with the recorder for the county in which the same is situated, a plat thereof, for ""' v ' "' p ' 343, 
not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, describing its exterior boundaries according to 
the lines of the public surveys, where such surveys have been executed ; also giving the 

3 



34 

name of such city or town, and exhibiting the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alley-, the 
size of tlir same, with measurements ami area of each municipal subdivision the lots in 
which shall each not exceed four thousand two hundred square feet, with a statement of 
the extent and general character of the improvements; sueh map and statement to be veri- 
fied under oath by the party acting for and in behalf of the persons proposing to establish 
such city or town ; and within one month after such tiling there shall be transmitted to 
the General Land-Office a verified transcript of such map and statement, accompanied by 
the testimony of two witnesses that such city or town has been established in good faith, 
and when the premises are within the limits of an organized land-district, a similar map 
and statement shall be filed with the register and receiver, and at any time after the riling 
of such map, statement, and testimony in the General Land-< >tfice, it may he lawful for 
the President to cause the lots embraced within the limits of sueh city or town to he 
offered at public sale to the highest bidder, subject to a minimum of ten dollars for each 
lot ; and such lots as may not he disposed of at public sale shall thereafter be liable to 
private entry at such minimum, or at such reasonable increase or diminution thereafter as 
the Secretary of the Interior may order from time to time, after at least three months' 
notice, in view of the increase or decrease in the value of the municipal property. But any 
actual settler upon any one lot, as above provided, and upon any additional lot in which he 
may have substantial improvements, shall be entitled to prove up and purchase the same 
as a pre-emption, at such minimum, at any time before the day fixed for the public sale. 
when town* utab- Sec. 2383. When such cities or towns are established upon unsurveyed lamb, it may 

lauds, MtonBion limits, be lawful, after the extension thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the extension limits 
Tjniy, 18M, c. aw, ». of the premises according to those lines, where it can he done without interference with 
rights which may be vested by sale; ami patents for all lots so disposed of at public or 
private sale shall issue as in ordinary cases. 
when tmuacript Sec. 2384. If within twelve months from the establishment of a city or town on the 

rlied in twcivo months, public domain, the parties interested refuse or fail to file in the General Land-Office a 
i»ryo( interior. transcript map, with the statement and testimony called for by the provisions of section 

i.v. i.i. i ;ii twenty-three hundred and eighty-two, it may be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior 

to cause a survey and plat to be made of such city or town, and thereafter the lots in the 
same shall be disposed of as required by such provisions, with this exception, that they 
shall each be at an increase of fifty per centum on the minimum often dollars per lot. 
wiwre «»• of lotsor Sec. 2385. Ill the case of any city or town, in which the lots may be variant as to 

(se nerefruie. size from the limitation fixed in section twenty-three hundred and eighty-two, and in 

i.2,v.i3, i>.o3ip'. 1 ' which the lots ami buildings, as municipal improvements, cover an area greater than six 
hundred and forty acres, such variance as to size of lots or excess in area shall prove no 
ba i' to such city or town claim under the provisions of that section; but the minimum 
price of each lot in such city or town, which may contain a greater number of squan 
than the maximum named in that section, shall be increased to such reasonable amount as 
the Secretary of the Interior may by rule establish. 
Title to i»t> mbjeut Sec. 2386. Where mineral veins are possessed, which possession is recognized by 

" ' '"ij"',','',, .'i'.^.!.", . i„7. local authority, and to the extent SO possessed ami recognized, the title to town-lot- to be 
acquired shall be subject to such recognized possession and the necessary use thereof; but 
nothing contained in this section shall be SO construed as to recognize any color of title in 
possessors for mining purposes as against the United States. 
Entry of lowuwu'hor- Sec. 2387. Whenever any portion of the public lands have been or may be settled 

ities iu trust for ouou- i • i -. , . , , . , , 

pants. upon and occupied as a town-site, not subject to entry under the agricultural pre-emption 

2 March, , -' = - '*" 
t. II. p. Ml 



'"' laws, it is lawful, in case such town be incorporated, for the corporate authorities thereof. 



35 

and, if not incorporated, for the judge of the county court for the county in which such 
town is situated, to cuter at the proper land-office, and at the minimum price, the land so 
settled and occupied in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof, ac- 
cording to their respective interests ; the execution of which trust, as to the disposal of 
the lots in such town, aud the proceeds of the sales thereof, to be conducted under such 
regulations as may be prescribed by the legislative authority of the State or Territory in 
which the same may be situated. 

Sec. 2388. The entry of the land provided lor in the preceding section shall be made, Eutry under procod- 

i . ,» 7 /.I'll. ■ • ing section, when to be 

or a declaratory statement ot the purpose oi the inhabitants to enter it as a town-site shall made. 

be filed with the register of the proper land-office, prior to the commencement of the v. 14, p.'sd. ' 
public sale of the body of laud in which it is included, and the entry or declaratory state- 
ment shall include only such land as is actually occupied by the town, and the title to 
which is in the United States; but in any Territory in which a land-office may not have 
been established, such declaratory statements may be hied with the surveyor-general of 
the surveying-district in which the lands are situated; who shall transmit the same to the 
General Land-Office. 

Sec. 2389. If upon surveyed lands, the entry shall in its exterior limit be made in Entry in proportion 

ii 1 i t • • p 1 ii-ii 1 • i 1 1 ii i lu lluul oor °t iiiiiuliil- 

conlormity to the legal subdivisions 01 the public lands authorized by law; ant! where the ants. 

inhabitants are in number one hundred, and less than two hundred, shall embrace not v. 14, p. st't. J ' ' "' 
exceeding three hundred and twenty acres; and in cases where the inhabitants of such 
town arc more than two hundred, and less than one thousand, shall embrace not exceeding- 
six hundred and forty acres; aud where the number of inhabitants is one thousand and 
over one thousand, shall embrace not exceeding twelve hundred and eighty acres; but for 
each additional one thousand inhabitants, not exceeding five thousand in all, a further 
grant of three hundred and twenty acres shall be allowed. 

Sec. 2390. The words "not exceeding five thousand in all," in the preceding section. Authorities of s^u 

in i n i t i rf i m p it i i i • i n i Lake City, rights of, as 

shall not apply to Salt Lake City, m the lerritory oi Utah; but such section shall be so to entr y. 

construed in its application to that city that lands may be entered for the full number of ls.p.'ira. 
inhabitants contained therein, not exceeding fifteen thousand; and as that city covers 
school-section number thirty-six, in township number one north, of range number one 
west, the same may be embraced in such entry, and indemnity shall be given therefor 
when a grant is made by Congress of sections sixteen and thirty-six, in the Territory of 
Utah, for school purposes. 

Sec 2391. Any act of the trustees not made in conformity to the regulations alluded certain aits of trus- 
to in section twenty-three hundred and eighty-seven shall be void. ""2 March, isotTcTItt; 

Sec. 2392. No title shall be accpiired, under the foregoing provisions of this chapter, t 'no "title acquired to 

«-.-..■. ., .."X..-,. gold mines, &c., or to 

to any mine ot gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper; or to any valid mmmg-claim or posses- mining-claim, &c. 

1 1 1 -1 ■ . - 1 2 March, 1867, c. 177, 

sion held under existing laws. v. 14, p. 541. s Juno, 

Sec. 2393. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to military or other reser- Military or other ros- 

, . p t t ^ ervations, & c. 

vations heretofore made by the United States, nor to reservations tor light-houses, custom- 2 March, isu7, c. 177, 
houses, mints, or such other public purposes as the interests of the United States may ' 
recptire, whether held under reservations through the Land-Office by title derived from 
the Crown of Spain, or otherwise. 

Sec. 2394. The inhabitants of any town located ou the public lands may avail them- inhabitants m towns 

.... -,..-, v -. pi ■• p , on public lands, right 

selves, if the town authorities choose to do so, 01 the provisions ot sections twenty-three ottoratei-. 

hundred and eighty-seven, twenty-three hundred and eighty-eight, aud twenty-three hun- 15, p. 07. ' 
dred and eighty-nine; and in addition to the minimum price of the lands embracing any 
town-site so entered, there shall be paid by the parties availing themselves of such pro- 



36 

visions all costs of surveying and platting any such town-site, and expenses incident 
thereto incurred by the United States, before any patent issues therefor; but nothing con- 
tained in the sections herein cited shall prevent the issuance of patents to persons who 
have made or may hereafter make entries, and elect to proceed under other laws relative to 

town-sites in this chapter set forth. 

******* 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Cu. 4. 

riijn.v. SEC. 5392. Every person who, having taken an. oath before a competent tribunal, 

is? v.lf p'iiis 90 ' "' 9 ' *' officer, or person, in any ease in which a law of the United Stales authorizes an oath to 

3 March, 1826 
a 13, v. I, p. 118, 



I'. S. '''■ Paesmore 

|i ; ji., 372; 



be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written 
u r ,„n,,. I trst j monV) declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and 
'-''u^-i.'i'i'iv".: V:*: contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he doc- not believe to 
ii.^./ ■jmf'^'s!' " be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand 
s." kendrick.aiias.; dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, 

thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until such 

time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See S 1750.] 



[ No. 2. ] 

AN ACT to amend section twenty-two hundred ami ninety-one of the Revised Statutes of the United States, in relation to proof 

required in homestead entries. 

Be it enacted by the Semite unit House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 

assembled, That the proof of residence, occupation, or cultivation, the affidavit of non-alienation, and the 
oath of allegiance, required to be made by section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one of the Revised 
Statutes of the United States, may be made before the judge, or in his absence, before the clerk of any 
court of record of the county and State, or district and Territory, in which the lands are situated; and if 
said lands are situated in any unorganized county, such proof may be made in a similar manner in any 
adjacent county in said State or Territory; and the proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made and duly 
subscribed, shall have the same force and effect as if made before the register or receiver of the proper 
land-district; and the same shall be transmitted by such judge, or the clerk of his court, to the register 
and the receiver, with the fee and charges allowed by law to him; and the register and receiver shall be 
entitled to the same fees for examining and approving said testimony as are now allowed by law for taking 
the same. 

Sec. 2. That if any witness making such proof, or the said applicant making such affidavit or oath, 
swears falsely as to any material matter contained in said proof, affidavits, or oaths, the said false swearing 
being willful and corrupt, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be liable to the same pains and 
penalties as if he had sworn falsely before the register. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



[No. 3.] 
AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the public lauds under die pre-emption laws. 

Be it enacted by tin' Senate and House of Representatives of the United states if America in Congress 
assembled, That any person who has made a settlement on the public lands tinder the pre-emption laws, 
and has subsequent to such settlement changed his filing in pursuance of law to that for a homestead entry 
upon the same tract of land, shall be entitled to have the time required to perfect his title under the home- 
stead laws computed from the date of his original settlement heretofore made, or hereafter to he made, 
under the pre-emption laws, subject to all the provisions of the law relating to homesteads. 

Approved May 27, 1878. 



37 
[No. 4.] 

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western Prairies." 
P>e it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 
assembled, That the act entitled "An Act to amend the act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of 
timber on Western Prairies/' approved March thirteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, be and the 
same is hereby amended so as to read as follows : That any person who is the head of a family, or who has 
arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his 
declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, who 
shall plant, protect, and keep in a healthy, growing condition for eight years ten acres of timber, on any 
quarter-section of any of the public lands of the United States, or five acres on any legal subdivision of 
eighty acres, or two and one-half acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres or less, shall be entitled to 
a patent for the whole of said quarter-section, or of such legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or 
fractional subdivision of less than forty acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of said eight years, on 
making proof of such fact by not less than two credible witnesses, and a full compliance of the further 
conditions as provided in section two: Provided further, That not more than one quarter of any section 
shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more than one entry under the provisions of this act. 
Sec. 2. That the person applying for the benefits of this act shall, upon application to the register of 
the land-district in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit, before the register or the 
receiver, or the clerk of some court of record, or officer authorized to administer oaths in the district where 
the land is situated; which affidavit shall be as follows, to wit: I, , having filed my appli- 
cation, number , for an entry under the provisions of an act entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled 

'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western Prairies,'" approved , 187-, do 

solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am the head of a family (or over twenty-one years of age), and a citizen 
of the United States (or have declared my intention to become such); that the section of land specified in 
my said application is composed exclusively of prairie lands, or other lands devoid of timber ; that this 
filing and entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for my own exclusive use and benefit; that I 
have made the said application hi good faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or directly or indi- 
rectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever ; that I intend to hold and cultivate 
the land, and to fully comply with the provisions of this said act; and that I have not heretofore made an 
entry under this act, or the acts of which this is amendatory. And upon filing said affidavit with said 
register and said receiver, and on payment of ten dollars if the tract applied for is more than eighty acres, 
and five dollars if it is eighty acres or less, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of 
land specified ; and the party making an entry of a quarter-section under the provisions of this act shall 
be required to break or plow five acres covered thereby the first year, five acres the second year, and to 
cultivate to crop or otherwise the five acres broken or plowed the first year ; the third year he or she shall 
cultivate to crop or otherwise the five acres broken the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cut- 
tings the five acres first broken or plowed, and to cultivate and put in crop or otherwise the remaining five 
acres, and the fourth year to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings the remaining five acres. All entries of 
less quantity than one quarter-section shall be plowed, planted, cultivated and planted to trees, tree-seeds, 
or cuttings, in the same manner and in the same proportion as hereinbefore provided for a quarter-section. 
Provided, however, That in case such trees, seeds, or cuttings shall be destroyed by grasshoppers, or by 
extreme and unusual drouth, for any year or term of years, the time for planting such trees, seeds, or cut- 
tings shall be extended one year for every such year that they are so destroyed: Provided further, That 
the person making such entry shall, before he or she shall be entitled to such extension of time, file with 
the register and the receiver of the proper land-office an affidavit, corroborated by two witnesses, setting 
forth the destruction of such trees, and that, in consequence of such destruction, he or she is compelled to 
ask an extension of time, in accordance with the provisions of this act : And provided further, That no 
final certificate shall be given, or patent issued, for the land so cntci'cd until the expiration of eight years 



3S 

from the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within five years there- 
after, the person making such entry, or, if lie or she be dead, his or her heirs or l< gal reprea ntatives, shall 
prove by two credible witnesses that he or she or they have planted, and, for not less than eight years, 
have cultivated and protected such quantity and character of trees ::- aforesaid; that not lcs3 than twenty- 
seven hundred trees were planted on each acre, and that at the time of making such proof that there shall 
be then growing at least six hundred and seventy-five living and thrifty trees to each acre, they shall 
receive a patent for such tract of land. 

Sec. 3. That if at any time after the filing of said affidavit, and prior to the issuing of the patent for 
said land, the claimant shall fail to comply with any of the requirements of this act, then and in that event 
such land shall be subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by Borne other person under the provisions 
of this act: Provided, That the party making claim to said land, either as a homestead-settler, or under 
this act, shall give, at the time of riling his application, such notice to the original claimant as .-hall In' 
prescribed by the rules established by the Commissioner of the General Land < >ffice; and the rights of the 
parties shall be determined as in other contested cases. 

Sec. 4. That no land acquired under the provisions of this act shall, in any i vent, become liable !" 
tlte satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 

Sec. 5. That the Commissioner of the General Land Office is bereby required to prepare and issue 
such rules and regulations, consistent with this act, as shall he accessary and proper to carry its provisions 
into effect; and that the registers and receivers of the several land-offices shall each !>•■ entitled to receive 
two dollars at the time of entry, and the like sum when the claim is finally established and the final cer- 
tificate issued. 

Sec. 6. That the fifth section of the act entitled "An Act in addition to an act 1" punish crimes against 
the United States, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall 
extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits required or authorized by this act. 

Sec. 7. That parties who have already made entries under the acts approved March third, eighteen 
hundred and seventy-three, and March thirteenth, eighteen hundred ami seventy-four, of which this is 
amendatory, shall be permitted to complete the same upon full compliance with the provisions of this act ; 
that is, they shall, at the time of making their final proof, have had under cultivation, as required by this 
act, an amount of timber sufficient to make the number of acres required by this act. 

Sec. 8. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. 

Approved June 14, 1878. 



[No. 5.] 
AN ACT to provide for the Bale <•( desert landa in certain States and Temtoi 

B. it enaeted l>ji the Senate and House of Representatives <•{ the I r nited States ■ <{ America in Congress 
assembled, That it shall be lawful for any citizen of the United States, or any person of requisite 
"who may be entitled to become a citizen, and who has filed his declaration to bee ."and upon 

payment of twenty-five cents per acre, to file a declaration, under oath, with the register and the receiver of' 
the land district in which any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert land, not 
exceeding one section, by conducting water upon the same within the period of three years thereafter: 
Provided, however, that the right to the use of water by the person so conducting the same on or to airy 
tract of desert land of six hundred and forty acres shall depend upon bona fide prior appropriation ; and 
such right shall not exceed the amount of water actually appropriated and necessarily used for the pui i 
of irrigation and reclamation; and all surplus water over and above such actual appropriation and use, 
together with the water of all lakes, rivers, and other sources of water supply upon the public lands and 
not navigable, shall remain and be held free for the appropriation and use of the public lor irrigation, 



39 

mining', and manufacturing purposes subject to existing rights. Said declaration shall describe particularly 
said section of land if surveyed, and if unsnrveycd shall describe the same as nearly as possible without a 
survey. At any time within the period of three years after filing said declaration, upon making satis- 
factory proof to the register and receiver of the reclamation of said tract of land in the manner aforesaid, 
and upon the payment to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre for a tract of land not 
exceeding six hundred and forty acres to any one person, a patent for the same shall be issued to him : 
Provided, that no person shall be permitted to enter more than one tract of land, and not to exceed six 
hundred and forty acres, which shall be in compact form. 

Sec. 2. That all lands exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands which will not, without irrigation, 
produce some agricultural crop, shall be deemed desert lands within the meaning of this act, which fact 
shall be ascertained by proof of two or more credible witnesses under oath, whose affidavits shall be filed 
in the land office in which said tract of land may be situated. 

Sec. 8. That this act shall only apply to and take effect in the States of California, Oregon, and 
Nevada, and the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, 
and Dakota, and the determination of what may be considered desert land shall lie subject to the decision 
and regulation of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



[ No. 6. ] 
AN ACT providing for the sale of sulinn lamls. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and, House of Representatives of the United Slates of America in Congress 
assembled, That whenever it shall be made appear to the register and the receiver of any land office of 
the United States that any lands within their district arc saline in character, it shall be the duty of said 
register and said receiver, under the regulation of the General Land Office, to take testimony in reference 
to such lands to ascertain their true character, and to report the same to the General Land Office; and if 
upon such testimony, the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall find that such lands are saline 
and incapable of being purchased under any of the laws of the United States relative to the public domain, 
then, and in such case, such lands shall be offered for sale by public auction at the local land office of the 
district in which the same shall be situated, under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office, and sold to the highest bidder for cash at a price not less than one 
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; and in case said lands fail to sell when so offered, then the same shall 
be subject to private sale, at such land office, for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre, in the same manner as other lands of the United States are sold : Provided, That the fore- 
going enactments shall not apply to any State or Territory which has not had a grant of salines by act of 
Congress, nor to any State which may have had such a grant, until cither the grant lias been fully satisfied, 
or the right of selection thereunder has expired by efflux of time. But nothing in this act shall authorize 
the sale or conveyance of any title other than such as the United States has, and the patents issued shall 
be in the form of a release and quit-claim of all title of the United States in such lands. 

Sec. 2. That all executive proclamations relating to the sales of public lands shall be published in 
only one newspaper, the same to be printed and published in the State or Territory where the lands are 
situated, and to be designated by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Approved January 12, 1877. 



40 

[No. 7.] 
AN ACT respecting the limits of reservations for town-sites upon the public domain. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Amci-ioa in < 'ongress 
assembled, That the existence or incorporation of any town upon the public lands of the United States 
shall not be hold to exclude from pre-emption or homestead entry a greater quantity than twenty-five 
hundred and sixty acres of land, or the maximum area which may be entered as a town-site under exis 
laws, unless the entire tract claimed or incorporated as such town-site shall, including and in excess of the 
area above specified, be actually settled upon, inhabited, improved, and. used for business and municipal 
purposes. 

Sec. 2. That where entries have been heretofore allowed upon lands afterward ascertained to have 
been embraced in the corporate limits of any town, but which entries are or shall be shown, to the satis- 
faction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to include only vacant unoccupied lands of the 
United States, not settled upon or used for municipal purposes, nor devoted to any public use of such 
town, said entries, if regular in all respects, are here! >y a ©firmed and may be carried into patent : Providt d, 
That this confirmation shall not operate to restrict the entry of any town-site to a smaller area than the 
maximum quantity of land which, by reason of jn-esent population, it may be entitled to enter under - 
tion twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised Statutes. 

Sec. 3. That whenever the corporate limits of any town upon the public domain are shown or allegi d 
to include lands in excess of the maximum area specified in section one of this act, the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office may require the authorities of such town, and it shall lie lawful for them, to elect 
what portion of said lands, in compact form and embracing the actual site of the municipal occupation and 
improvement, shall be withheld from pre-emption and homestead entry; and then after the residue of such 
lands shall be open to disposal under the homestead and pre-emption laws. And upon default of said 
town authorities to make such selection within sixty days after notification by the Commissioner, lie may 
direct testimony respecting the actual location and extent of said improvements, to be taken by the register 
and receiver of the district in which such town may be situated; and, upon receipt of the same, he may 
determine and set oft' the proper site according to section one of this act, and declare the remaining lands 
open to settlement and entry under the homestead and pre-emption laws; and it shall lie the duty of the 
secretary of each of the Territories of the United States to furnish the surveyor-general of the Territory 
for the use of the United States a copy duly certified of every act of the legislature of the Territory incor- 
porating any city or town, the same to be forwarded by such secretary to the surveyor-general within one 
month from date of its approval. 

Sec. 4. It shall be lawful for any town which has made, or may hereafter make entry of less than 
the maximum quantity of land named in section twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised 
Statutes to make such additional entry, or entries, of contiguous tracts, which may be occupied for town 
purposes as when added to the entry or entries theretofore made will not exceed twenty-five hundred and 
sixty acres: Provided, That such additional entry shall not together with all prior entries be in excess of 
the area to which the town may be entitled at date of the additional entry by virtue of its population as 
prescribed in said section twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine. 

Approved March 3, IS 77. 



[No. S.] 
AN ACT fm- tlif sale of timber lands in the Slates of California, Oregon, Nevada, ami in Washington Territory. 

Be it enacted by the Senate ami House of Representatives of the United States of America in Omgretss 
assembled, That surveyed public lands of the United States within the States of California, Oregon, and 
Nevada, and in Washington Territory, not included within military, Indian or other reservations of the 
United States, valuable chiefly for timber, hut unfit for cultivation, and which have not been offered 



41 

at public sale according to law, may be sold to citizens of the United States, or persons who have declared 
their intention to become such, hi quantities not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one person 
or association of persons, at the minimum price of two dollars and fifty cents per acre ; and lands valuable 
chiefly for stone may be sold on the same terms as timber lands : Provided, That nothing herein contained 
shall defeat or impair any bona-fide claim under any law of the United States, or authorize the sale of any 
mining claim, or the improvements of any bona-fide settler, or lands containing gold, silver, cinnabar, 
copper, or coal, or lands selected by the said States under any law of the United States donating lands for 
internal improvements, education, or other purposes: And provided further, That none of the rights con- 
ferred by the act approved July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "An Act granting 
the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," shall be abro- 
gated by this act ; and all patents granted shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, or rights 
to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights, as may have been acquired under and 
by the provisions of said act: and such rights shall be expressly reserved in any patent issued under 
this act. 

Sec. 2. That any person desiring to avail himself of the provisions of this act shall file with the 
register of the proper district a written statement in duplicate, one of which is to be transmitted to the 
General Laud Office, designating by legal subdivisions the particular tract of land he desires to purchase, 
setting forth that the same is unfit for cultivation, and valuable chief!)' for its timber or stone; that it is 
uninhabited ; contains no mining or other improvements, except for ditch or canal purposes, where any 
such do exist, save such as were made by or belong to the applicant, nor, as deponent verily believes, any 
valuable deposit of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; that deponent has made no other application 
under this act; that he does not apply to purchase the same on speculation, but in good faith to appro- 
priate it to his own exclusive use and benefit; and that he has not, directly or indirectly, made any agree- 
ment or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title which 
he might acquire from the government of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, to the ben- 
efit of any person except himself; which statement must be verified by the oath of the applicant before the 
register or the receiver of the land-office within the district where the land is situated ; and if any person 
taking such oath shall swear falsely in the premises, he shall be subject to all the pains and penalties of 
perjury, and shall forfeit the money which he may have paid for said lands, and all right and title to the 
same; and any grant or conveyance which he may have made, except in the hands of bona-fide purcha- 
sers, shall be null and void. 

Sec. 3. That upon the filing of said statement, as provided in the second section of this act, the reg- 
ister of the land-office shall post a notice of such application, embracing a description of the land by legal 
subdivisions, in his office, for a period of sixty days, and shall furnish the applicant a copy of the same 
for publication, at the expense of such applicant, in a newspaper published nearest the location of the 
premises, for a like period of time; and after the expiration of said sixty days, if no adverse claim shall 
have been filed, the person desiring to purchase shall furnish to the register of the land-office satisfactory 
evidence, first, that said notice of the application prepared by the register as aforesaid was duly published 
in a newspaper as herein required; secondly, that the land is of the character contemplated in this act, 
unoccupied and without improvements, other than those excepted, either mining or agricultural, and that 
it apparently contains no valuable deposits of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; and upon payment to 
the proper officer of the purchase-money of said land, together with the fees of the register and the receiver, 
as provided for in case of mining claims in the twelfth section of the act approved May tenth, eighteen hun- 
dred and seventy-two, the applicant may be permitted to enter said tract, and, on the transmission to the 
General Land-Office of the papers and testimony in the case, a patent shall issue thereon : Provided, That 
any person having a valid claim to any portion of the land may object, in writing, to the issuance of a patent 
to lands so held by him, stating the nature of his claim thereto; and evidence shall be taken, and the 
merits of said objection shall be determined by the officers of the land-office, subject to appeal, as in other 



42 

land cases. Effect shall be given to the foregoing- provisions of this act by regulations to be proscribed by 
the Commissioner of the General Land-Office. 

^T- *j» *K •1' T" *1* T" 

Sec. 6. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 
Approved June 3, 1878. 



[No. 9.] 

AN ACT making appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for fiscal years ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred 

and seventy-five, and prior years, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United, States of Am erica in. < bngress 
assembled, ******* 

Sec. 15. That any Indian, born in the United States, who is the head of a family, or who has arrived 
at the age of twenty-one years, and who has abandoned, or ma}' hereafter abandon, his tribal relations, 
shall, on making satisfactory proof of such abandonment under rules to be prescribed by the; Secretary of 
the Interior, be entitled to the benefits of the act entitled "An Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers 
on the public domain," approved May twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the acts amenda- 
tory thereof, except that the provisions of the eighth section of the said act shall not be hold to apply to 
entries made under this act: Provided, however, That the title to lands acquired by any Indian by Virtue 
hereof shall not be subject to alienation or incumbrance, either by voluntary conveyance, or the judgment, 
decree, or order of any court, and shall be and remain inalienable for a period of five years from the date 
of the patent issued therefor: Provided, That any such Indian shall be entitled to his distributive share of 
all annuities, tribal funds, lands, and other property, the same as though he had maintained his tribal 
relations; and any transfer, alienation, or incumbrance of any interest he may hold or claim by reason of 
his formal tribal relations shall be void. 

Sec. 16. That in all cases in which Indians have heretofore entered public lands under the home- 
stead law, and have proceeded in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, or in which they may hereafter be allowed to so enter under said regulations prior to 
the promulgation of regulations to be established by the Secretary of the Interior under the fifteenth section 
of this act, and in which the conditions prescribed by law have been or may be complied with, the entries 
so allowed are hereby confirmed, and patents shall be issued thereon ; subject, however, to the restrictions 
and limitations contained in the fifteenth section of this act in regard to alienation and incumbrance. 

Approved March 3, 1875. 



[No. 10.] 

CASH A PPLICATION. 

No. . Land Office at 

(Date) -, 18—. 

J _ } f county, , do hereby apply to purchase the of section 



> 



in township , of range , containing acres, according to the returns of the surveyor 

general, for which I have agreed with the register to give at the rate of— per acre. 

I , register of the land office at , do hereby certify that the lot above described 

contains acres, as mentioned above, and that the price agreed upon is per acre. 

■ , Register. 



43 



No. 



Received from 



[No. 11.] 

CASH RECEIPT. 

Kij eiteb's Office at — 

(Date) 

county, , the sum of dollars and 



,18- 



cents; being in full for the quarter of section No. , in township Nd. , of range 

No. , containing acre-; and hundredths, at f per acre. 

, Receivt r. 

$ . 



[No. 12.] 
(ASH CERTIFICATE. 



No. 



// is hereby certified that, in pur-nance of law. 



Land Offh e at 

( Date) , 

-, of county, State of 



18- 



oii this day purchased of the register of this office the lot or of section No. 

No. , of range No. , containing acres, at the rate of 



per acre, amounting to 



dollars and 



cents, for which the said 



, in township 

dollars and cents 

ha — made 



payment in full as required by law. 

Now, therefore, be if known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of the General 

Land ( Office, the slid shall be entitled to receive a patent for the lot above described. 

, Register. 



L Xo. 13.] 



Mr. 



has this day paid 



Land Office at 
Date) 



-, 18—. 



dollars, the register's and receiver's frr> ) to file a 

declaratory statement, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. 

. Receiver. 

No. . 



Mr. 



No. 

settled upon 



for 



, having paid the fees, has this day filed in this office Ids declaratory statement, 

of section , in township , of range , containing acn -. 

.Is — , being offered. 



ristt r. 



I No. I I. | 

DECLARATOR? STATEMENT FOR CASES WHERE THE LAND is NOT SUBJECT 

TO PRIVATE ENTRY. 

I, , of , Inincr , have, on the day of , A. 1 >. IS—, settled 

and improved fhe quarter of section number , in township number , of range 

number , in the district of land- subject to sale af the land office at , and containing 

-. which land has ool Mt been offered ai public sale, and thus rendered subject t" private entry; and 
I do berebj declare my intention to claim the said trad of land as a pre-emption right under section 2259 
of the Revised Statutes of the United Stal 

Given under my hand this day of . L D. 18—. 



I ii pn -' ncc of 



44 

[No. 15.] 

DECLARATORY STATEMENT FOR CASES WHERE THE LAND CLAIMED IS 

SUBJECT TO PRIVATE ENTRY. 

I, , of , being , have, since the 1st day of , A. D. 18 — , settled 

and improved the quarter of section number , in township number , of range number , 

In the district of lands subject to sale at the land office at , and containing acres, which 

land had been rendered subject to private entry prior to my settlement thereon ; and I do hereby declare my 
intention to claim the said tract of land as a pre-emption right, under section 2259 of the Revised Statutes 
of the United States. 

Given under my hand this day of , A. D., 18 — . 



In presence of- 



[No. 16.] 
AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF PRE-EMPTION CLAIMANT. 
, claiming the right of pre-emption, under section 2259 of the Revised Statutes of 



the United States, to the of section number , of township number , of range number 

, subject to sale at , do solemnly that I have never had the benefit of any right of pre- 
emption under said section; that I am not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any 
State or Territory of the United States, nor have I settled upon and improved said land to sell the same 
on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to my own exclusive use or benefit; and that I have not, 
directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons 
whomsoever, by which the title which I may acquire from the Government of the United States should 
inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except myself. 



-, of the land office at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was sub- 



scribed and sworn to before mo this day of , A. D. 18- 



[No. 17.] 
PRE-EMPTION PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF CLAIMANT. 

— , being called as a witness in own behalf in support of ; pre-emption claim 

to the , testifies as follows: 

Ques. 1. What is your name? (Be careful to give it in full, correctly spelled, in order that it may be 
here written exactly as you wish it written in the patent which you desire to obtain.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your age? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you the head of a family, or a single person ; and, if the head of a family, of whom 
does your family consist? 

Ans. . 



45' 

Ques. 4. Are you a native-born citizen of the United States? If not, have you declared your inten- 
tion to become a citizen, and have you obtained a certificate of naturalization? * 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is the land embraced in your pre-emption claim, above described, included within the limits 
of an incorporated town ; or lias it been selected as the site of a city or town, and actually settled and occu- 
pied for piirposes of trade and business? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this land? (If so, state 
what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits arc valuable.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. What is your post-office address? 

Ans. . 

Qucs. 9. Are you the owner of 320 acres of land in any State or Territory? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Have you left or abandoned a residence on land of your own in this to reside upon 

the land above described? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 1 1 . Have you ever filed a pre-emption declaratory statement for other land than that above 
described? (If so, give, as nearly as you can, the date thereof and description of the land.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Have you heretofore made a pre-emption entry? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Have you settled upon and improved the land for which you now ajiply to sell the same 
on speculation ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. Have you given any mortgage on this land, and have you made any agreement to sell 
the same? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. When did you make settlement ou the land, and what constituted your first act of 
settlement? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. What improvements, if any, were on the land at date of your settlement? (If any, state 
who owned them, and whether they now belong to you.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. What improvements have you made on this land subsequent to your first act of settlement? 
(Describe them, and state the total value of the improvements owned by you thereon.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. When did you first establish your residence upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 19. Have you resided upon the land ever since? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 20. What use have you made of the land? 

Ans. . 

*In ease the party lias been naturalized, or has only declared his intention to become a citizen, a certified copy of his certificate 
of naturalization or declaration of intention, as the case may be, must be furnished. 



46 

Ques. 21. How much of the land, if any, has been broken and cultivated since your settlement? 
Ans. . 



I HEREBY CERTIFY that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was read to the claimant 

before signed name thereto, and that the same Avas subscribed and sworn to before me this 

day of , 1 8 — . 



Note. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the following section of the 
Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute 
him to the full extent of the law. 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law 
of the United States authorizes au oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written 
testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes 
any material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two 
thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of 
giving testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See $ 1750.] 



[So. 18.] . 

(The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.) 

PRE-EMPTION PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF "WITNESS. 

-, being called as a witness in support of the pre-emption claim of 



to the , testifies as follow: 

Ques. 1. What is your post-office address? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your occupation ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you well acquainted with , the claimant in this case, and how long have 

you known ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. How old do you know or believe claimant to be ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is claimant the head of a family, or a single person; and, if the head of a family, of whom 
does the family consist ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Is claimant a native-born citizen of the United States ? (If not, state, if you can, what steps 
has taken to become naturalized.) 



Ans. . 

Ques. 7. Are you acquainted with the land above described? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Do you live in the vicinity of the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Is this land within the limits of an incorporated town, or has it been selected as the site of 
a city or town and actually settled and occupied for purposes of trade and business ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Are there any judications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this land ? If so, 
state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits are valuable. 
Ans. . 



47 

Ques. 11. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Is the claimant the owner of 320 acres of land in any State or Territory? (State your 
knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Has the claimant left or abandoned a residence on land of own in this to 

reside upon the land above described? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 
• Ans. . 

Ques. 14. Has claimant ever filed a pre-emption declaratory statement for other land than that above 
described, or has heretofore made a pre-emption entry ? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. Do you know whether the claimant has given any mortgage on this land, or made any 
agreement to -ell the same? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 

An-. . 

Ques. 16. When did claimant first make settlement on the land, and what constituted his first act of 
settlement ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. What improvements does the claimant possess on the land, and what is the value of the 
same .' 

Ans. . 

Ques. IS. When did claimant first establish a residence upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 19. Has claimant resided upon the land continuously ever since? 

An-. . 

Ques. 20. For what purpose has the land been used by claimant? 

An-. . 

Ques. 21. How much of the said land, if any, has been broken and cultivated since the claimant 
made settlement thereon ? 

An.-. . 

Ques. 22. I- it your belief that has acted in good faith in the settlement and improve- 
ment of the said land under the pre-emption laws? Have you any knowledge to the contrary? 

Ans. — . 

Que-. 23. A.re you interested in this claim? 

Ans. . 



I HEREBY CERTIFY that witness is a person of respectability; that each question and answer in the 

foregoing testimony was read to before signed name thereto, and that the same was 

subscribed and -worn to before me this day of , IS — . 



Noii:. The officer before whom the testimony i- taken should call the attention of the witness to the following section of the 
Revised Statutes, and state t" him thai it is 'In- purpose "f the Government, it ii !"■ ascertained thai In' testifies falsely, to prosecute 

him to tin- full extent of tin- law. 

Ini i; i.sv- ( ; IME8.— Cu. 4. 

-: c. 5392. Ever) person who, having taken ai th before a competent tribuual, officer, or person, in any cose in which :i law 

nf the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, thai lie >\ ill testify, declare, depose, or cert if} truly, or thai any written 
testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to xuch oath states or t-ubsuribes 

any material matter « ! i l«-li he does no! believe to I"' true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by o ii F not more than two 

thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, :ii hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, !"• incapable-vf 
giving testimony in any c 't of the United States until such time as the judg linsl bun - L750.] 



48 

[No. 19.] 
HOMESTEAD. 

Application \ Land Office at , 

No. . I {Date) , 18—. 

I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under section 2289 of the Revised Statutes 

of the United States, the of section , in township , of range , containing 

acres. . 



Land Office at 



(Date) , is—. 

I, , register of the land office, do hereby certify that the above application is for 

surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is legally entitled to enter under section 2289 of the 
Revised Statutes of the United Stales, and that there is no prior, valid, adverse right to the same. 

, Register, 



[No. 20.] 
HOMESTEAD. 

AFFIDAVIT. 



Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

I, — , of , having filed my application, No. , for an entry under section 2289 

of the Revised Statutes of the United States, do solemnly swear that [here state whether th nt is the 

head of a family, or over twenty-one years of age; whether a citizen of the United Stat* s, or has filed his 
deck n-ation of intention of becoming such; or, if under tirenty-one years of age, that he has served not 
than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United. States during actual war ; that said application, 

No. , is made for his or her exclusive benefit ; and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual 

settlement and cultivation, and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or pen 
whomsoever^ and that I have not heretofore had the benefit of said section 2289. 



Sworn to and subscribed, this day of , before 



Register, [<>r Receiver.] 



[No. 21.] 

Receiver's Receipt, No. . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Receiver's Office, , 



(Bate) , 18—. 

Received from : , of county, , the sum of dollars and c 

being the amount of fee and compensation of register and receiver for the entry of of section , 

in township , of range , under section , Revised Statutes of the United Slate-. 

, Receiver. 

% • 



49 

[No. 22.] 
HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

PINAL AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF HOMESTEAD CLAIMANTS, SECTION 2291 OF THE REVISED STATUTES 

OF THE UNITED STATES. 

I, , having made a homestead entry of the section No. , in township No. 

, of range No. , subject to entry at , under section No. 2289 of the Revised Statutes of 

the United States, do now apply to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of section No. 2291 of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States ; and for that purpose do solemnly that I am a citizen of the United 

States ; that I have made actual settlement upon and have cultivated said land, having resided thereon 

since the day of , 18 — , to the present time; that no part of said land has been alienated, 

except as provided in section 2288 of the Revised Statutes, but that I am the sole bona fide owner as an 
actual settler; that I will bear true allegiance to the Government of the United States; and further, that 
I have not heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made under the homestead laws of the United States. 



of the land office at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was sub- 



scribed and sworn to before me this day of — , ] ! 



[No. 23.] 

(This form will be used both in final homestead proof and commutation proof.) 

HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF CLAIMANT. 

, being called as a witness in own behalf in support for homestead 

entry for , testifies as follows: 

Ques. 1. What is your name? (Be careful to give it in full, correctly spelled, in order that it may 
be here written exactly as you wish it written in the patent which you desire to obtain,) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your age? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you the head of a family, or a single person ; and, if the head of a family, of whom 
does your family consist ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Are you a native-born citizen of the United States? If not, have you declared your inten- 
tion to become a citizen, and have you obtained a certificate of naturalization ? * 

Ans. ■ . 

Ques. 5. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on the land embraced in 
your homestead entry above described? (If so, state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral 
deposits are valuable.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. What is your post-office address?, 

Ans. . 



Note. — At the time of making proof the party should be required to surrender his original homestead duplicate receipt, or file 
an affidavit accounting for the same. 

* In case the party has been naturalized, a certified copy of his certificate of naturalization must be furnished. In cases of com- 
muted homesteads it is sufficient if the party has declared his intention to become a citizen, in which case a certified copy of his 
declaration of intention must be furnished. 



50 

Ques. 8. Have you ever made a homestead entry except for this land, No. ? (If you have, 

give, as nearly as you can, the date thereof and description of the laud, and state whether the entry still 
subsists, or, if it has been canceled, state the cause of its cancellation.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Have you sold the land or conveyed to any one your right and interest in the same; and, if 
so, to whom and for what purpose? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Does any one except yourself claim the land under the homestead or pre-emption laws? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. When did you first make settlement on the said land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. When did you first establish a residence upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. At the date you have given as being the date that you first established your residence upon 
the land, did you move thereon in person ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. Up to what time have you resided on the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. Was your residence upou the land continuous during the period named? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. If you had a family during said period of residence on the homestead, did your family 
reside thereon? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. What improvements have you made or do you possess on the land? (Describe them.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. When was your house built? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 19. What is the total value of said improvements? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 20. For what purpose have you used the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 21. How much of the land have you broken and cultivated, and what crops, if any, have you 
raised? 

Ans. . 



I hereby certify that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was read to the claimant 

before signed name thereto, and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this 

day of , 18—. 



Note. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the following section of the 
Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it he ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute 
him to the full extent of the law. 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any ease in which a law 
of the United States authorizes an oath to lie administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written 
testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to Buch oath states or subscribes 

any material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and 'shall he punished by a fine of not more than two 
thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than live years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, he incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See $ 1750.] 



51 

[No. 24.] 

[The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case. This form will be used both in final home- 
stead proof and commutation proof.] 

HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS. 

, being called as a witness in support of the homestead entry of 

for , testifies as follows: 

Ques. 1. What is your post-office address? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your occupation? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you well acquainted with , the claimant in this case, and how 

long have you known ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. How old do you know or believe claimant to be? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is claimant the head of a family, or a single person ; and, if the head of a family, of whom 
does the family consist? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Is claimant a native-born citizen of the United States? If not, what steps has taken 

to become a citizen? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. Has claimant been an inhabitant of the land above described? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Do you five in the vicinity of the land, and are you acquainted with the same? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Are there auy indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this land? (If so, 
state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits are valuable.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. When did claimant first make settlement on the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. When did claimant establish a residence upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Up to what time has claimant resided upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. Has residence been continuous during the period named? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. If claimant had a family during said period of residence, did the family reside on the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. When was the claimant's house built upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. What other improvements have been made on the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. What is the total value of the improvements? 

Ans. . 



52 

Ques. 19. For what purpose has the land been used by claimant? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 20. How much of the land has been broken and cultivated, and what crops, if any, have been 
raised ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 21. Has claimant made a homestead entry for other land than that above described? (State 
your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 22. Has claimant alienated any portion of the land— that is,.conveyed it to some one else; ami 
if so, to whom and for what purpose? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 23. Is it your belief that , the claimant, has acted in good faith in the 

settlement and improvement of the said land as a homestead? Have you any knowledge to the contrary? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 24. Are you interested in this claim? 

Ans. . 



I hereby certify that witness is a person of respectability; that each question and answer in the 

foregoing testimony was read to before signed name thereto; and that the same was 

subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



NOTE. — I he officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the following section of the 
Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it !><• ascertained that he testifies falsely, to pn 
him to the full extent of the law. 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law 
of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written 
testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes 
any materia] matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall he punished by a fine of not more than two 
thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See § 17."ilt.] 



[No. 25.] 

Final Receiver's Receipt, No. . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Receiver's Office, , 



{Dale) , IS—. 

Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars ami cent-, 

being the balance of payment required by law for the entry of the of section , in township 

, of range , containing acres, under section of the Revised Statutes of the 

United States. 

, Receiver. 



53 

[No. 26.] 

HOMESTEAD. 



Final Certificate No. 



Land Office at 
{Date) — 



18- 



Application No. 



It is hereby certified, pursuant to section 2291, Revised Statutes of the United States, that 

, of county, ■, has made payment in full for of section No. , in town- 
ship No. , of range No. , containing acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of the General 

Land Office, the said shall be entitled to a patent for the tract of land above described. 

, Register. 



[No. 27.] 

[To be useil in cases nf commuted homestead entries. For taking tlie testimony of claimant and las witnesses in making 
commutation proof, use the prescribed forms for " Homestead Proof."] 

AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF CLAIMANT. 

(Section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.) 

I, , claiming the right to commute, under section 2301 of the Revised Statutes 

of the United States, my homestead entry No. , made upon the section , township , 

range , do solemnly swear that I made settlement upon said land on the day of , 18 — , 



and that since such date, to wit : on the 



day of • 



— , 18 — , I have built a house on said land, and 

have continued to reside therein up to the present time; that I have broken and cultivated acres of 

said land, and that no part of said land has been alienated, except as provided in section 2288 of the 
Revised Statutes, but that I am the sole bona fide owner as an actual settler. 

I further swear that I have not heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made under the homestead 
laws of the United States. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 



day of - 



Land Office, 



Register. 



[ No. 28. ] 
ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD. 



AFFIDAVIT. 



Land Office at 



-,of- 



{Date) , 18—. 

-, having filed my application No. , for an entry under the 



provisions of the act of Congress approved May 20, 1862, entitled "An Act to secure homesteads to actual 

settlers on the public domain," do solemnly swear that , [here state whether the applicant is 

the head of a family, or over twenty-one years of age; whether a citizen of the United States, or has filed his 
declaration of intention of becoming such, or, if under twenty-one years of age, that he has served not less 
than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United States during actual icar /] that said entry is made 
for my own exclusive benefit, and not directly or indirectly for the benefit or use[of any other person or 



54 

persons whomsoever; neither have I heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made under this act; 

that the land embraced in the said application No. is intended for an adjoining farm homestead; 

that I now own and reside upon an original farm containing acres, and no more; that the same com- 
prises the of section , township , range , and is contiguous to the tract this day 

applied for. 



Sworn to and subscribed this 



day of 



before 



of the Lai\d Office. 



[ No. 29. ] 
FINAL AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD CLAIMANTS. 

(Section 2291, Revised Statutes. I 

I, , having made a homestead entry of the section No. , in township 

No. , of range No. , subject to entry at , for the use of an adjoining farm owned and 



occupied by me on the 



of section No. 



in township No. , of range No. , under section 



2289 of the Revised Statutes, do now apply to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of section No. 2291 of the 
same, and for that purpose do solemnly that I am a citizen of the United States; that I have con- 
tinued to own and occupy the land constituting my original farm, having resided thereon since the 

day of , 18 — , to the present time, and have made use of the said entered tract as a part of my 

homestead, and have improved the same in the following manner, viz: . That no part of said 

land has been alienated, but that I am the sole bona fide owner as an actual settler; that I will bear true 
allegiance to the Government of the United States; and, further, that I have not heretofore perfected or 
abandoned an entry under the homestead laws. 



taken and subscribed before me this 



-, of the Land Office at 



day of ■ 



-, do hereby certify that the above above affidavit was 

, 18—. 



[No. 30.] 

I To be used in making final proof in eases where pre-emption filings have been changed to homestead entries under the acts of March 

3, 1877, and May 27, 1878.] 



PRE-EMPTION HOMESTEAD AFFIDAVIT. 



I, 

day of - 



filed the 



18- 



section No. , 

-, district of lands subject 



— , having changed my pre-emption declaratory statement No. 

-, alleging settlement the day of , 18 — , for the 

in township No. , of range No. , to homestead entry original No. 

to entry at , under the acts of Congress approved March 3, 1877, and May 27, 1878, do solemnly 

swear that I have never had the benefit of any right of pre-emption under section 2259 of the Revised 
Statutes of the United States; that I have not heretofore filed a pre-emption declaratory statement for 
another tract of land ; that 1 was not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State or 
Territory of the United States at any time during the above-mentioned period of settlement under the pre- 
emption statutes; that I did not remove from my own land within the State of to make the settle- 
ment above referred to; nor have 1 settled upon and improved said hind to sell the same on .-peculation, 



55 

but in good faith to appropriate it to my exclusive use or benefit ; and that I did not, during the period 
of pre-emption settlement above mentioned, directly or indirectly, make any agreement or contract, in any 
way or manner, with any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title which I might acquire from the 
Government of the United States would inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except 
myself. 



-, of the Land Office , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was sub- 



scribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18- 



[No. 31.] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

( Section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.) 
HOMESTEAD DECLARATION. 

No. . Land Office at 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , do hereby declare and give notice that I claim for a homestead, under section 2304 

of the Revised Statutes of the United States, granting homesteads to honorably discharged soldiers and 

sailors, their widows and orphans, the of section , of township , of range , containing 

acres; and I further declare that I take the said tract of land for actual settlement and cultivation, 

and for my own use and benefit. , 

Per , his Attorney in fact. 



) 



[No. 32.] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

(Section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.) 

application. 

Land Office at 



y 



(Date) , 18—. 

I, , hereby apply to enter, under section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

States, the of section , of township , of range , containing acres, and for which I 

filed my declaration on the day of , , through , my duly-appointed agent. 



I, , register of the land office at , do hereby certify that 

filed the above application at this office on the day of , , and that he has taken the oath 

and paid the fees and commissions prescribed by law. 

;, Register. 



56 

[No. 33.] 

SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

(Section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.) 
AFFIDAVIT. 

No. Land Office at , 

(Dote) f is—. 

I, , of , do solemnly swear that I am a , of the age of twenty-one 

years, and a citizen of the United States; that I served for ninety days in company , regiment, 

United States volunteers; that I was mustered into the United States military service the day of 

, , and was honorably discharged therefrom on the day of , ; that I have 

since borne true allegiance to the Government; and that I have made my application No. , to enter a 

tract of land under section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, giving homesteads to hon- 
orably discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children ; that I have made said applica- 
tion in good faith ; and that I take said homestead for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and 
for my own exclusive use and benefit, and for the use and benefit of no other person or persons whomso- 
ever; and that I have not heretofore acquired a title to a tract of land under the homestead laws, or 
voluntarily relinquished or abandoned an entry heretofore made under said laws: So help me God. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me, , register of the land office at , this 

-day of , 18—. 

, Register. 



[No. 34.] 

ADDITIONAL ENTRY UNDER SECTION 2306 OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 

APPLICATION". 

No. . Land Office at 



y 



(Date) , 18—. 

I, , of county, State of , being entitled to the benefits of section 2306 

of the Revised Statutes of the United States, granting additional lands to soldiers and sailors who served 

in the war of the rebellion, do hereby apply to enter the of section , of township , of 

range , containing acres, as additional to my original homestead on the of section 

, of township , of range , containing acres, which I entered , 

1 8 — , per homestead No. . 



Land Office at 



(Date) — , 18—. 

I, , register of the land office at , do hereby certify that 

filed the above application before me for the tract of land therein described, and that he has paid the fee 
and commissions prescribed by law. 

, Register. 



57 

[No. 35.] 

ADDITIONAL ENTRY UNDER SECTION 2306 OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 

Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

Final Certificate \ f Application 
No. . J \ No. . 

It is hereby certified that, pursuant to the provisions of section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the 

United States, ■ has paid the fee and commissions, and made entry of the of section 

, of township , of range , containing acres, which added to the quantity 

embraced in his original homestead No. — , on which he has made final proof, as per certificate No. — , 
does not exceed one hundred and sixty acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known that, on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of the General 

Land Office, the said shall be entitled to a patent for the tract of land above described. 

, Register. 



[ No. 36. ] 
INDIAN HOMESTEAD UNDER ACT MARCH 3, 1875. 

affidavit. 
, of , having filed my application No. — , for an entry under the provisions 



of the act of Congress of March 3, 1875, do solemnly swear that I am an Indian, formerly of the 

tribe; that I was born in the United States; that I have abandoned my relations with that tribe and 
adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized life ; [here state whether the applicant is twenty-one years of aye, 
or the head of a family ;~\ that I desire said land for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and 
not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of -any other person or persons whomsoever ; and that I 
have not heretofore had the benefit of said act. 



Sworn and subscribed before me this day of , 1 8- 



Register, [or Receiver. ] 



[No. 37.] 

CORROBORATIVE AFFIDAVIT— INDIAN HOMESTEAD— UNDER ACT MARCH 3, 1875. 

■ and — do solemnly swear that we are well acquainted with 

, and know that he is an Indian, formerly of the tribe; that he was born in the United 



States; that he has abandoned his relations with that tribe, and adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized 
life ; [here state that he is twenty-one years of age, or, if not, that he is the head of a family. ,] 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 18- 



58 

[No. 38.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE— ACT OF JUNE 14, 1878. 

Application No. . 

I, : , hereby apply to enter, under the provisions of the act of June 14, 1878, entitled 

"An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western Prairies/ ' ; 
the of section , in township , of range , containing acres. 



Land Office at 



> 



{Date) , 18—. 

I, , register of the land office, do hereby certify that the above application is for the 

class of lands which the applicant is legally entitled to enter under the provisions of the timber-culture act 
of June 14, 1878; that there is no prior, valid, adverse right to the same, and that the land therein de- 
scribed, together with the lands heretofore entered under this act and the acts of which this is amendatory 

in the said section, does not exceed one quarter thereof. 

, Register. 



•> 



[No. 39.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE— ACT OF JUNE 14, 1878. 

affidavit. 

Land Office at 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , having filed my application No. — , for an entry under the provisions of an act 

entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western 

Prairies/" approved June 14, 1878, do solemnly that I am the head of a family, \or over 21 years 

of age^\ and a citizen of the United States, [or have declared my intention to become suchf\ that the section 
of land specified in my said application is composed exclusively of prairie lands, or other lands devoid of 
timber ; that this filing and entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for my own exclusive use and 
benefit ; that I have made the said application in good faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or 
directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever ; that I intend to 
hold and cultivate the land, and to fully comply with the provisions of this said act ; and that I have not 
heretofore made an entry under this act, or the acts of which this is amendatory. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 18 — . 



[No. 40.] 

IER-CUL1 

Receiver's Receipt, 1 f Application 



TIMBER-CULTURE. 

No. . / \ No. 



Receiver's Office, 



> 



(Date) , 18—. 

Received of the sum of dollars cents, being the amount of fee and compen- 
sation of register and receiver for the entry of of section , in township , of range , 

under the first section of the act of Congress approved June 14, 1878, entitled "An Act to amend an act 
entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western Prairies.' " 

% . , Receiver. 



59 

[No. 41.] 
DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1ST 7. 

DECLARATION'. 

No. Land ( > i i i < i: at . 

Date) , In— . 

I, , of county, of , being duly sworn, depose and declare, 

That I am a citizen of the United States, of the age of , and a resident of said county and , 

and by occupation a ; that I intend to reclaim a tract of desert land, not exceeding one section, by 

conducting water upon the same, within three yean from date, under the provisions of the act of Congress 
approved March 3, 1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the Bale of desert lands in certain States and 
Territories." The desert land which 1 intend to reclaim does not exceed one section, and is situated in 
county, in the land district, and is described a- follows, to wit: the of section 



No. , township No. , range No. . containing acres. I further depo-e, that I have made 

no other declaration for desert lands under the provisions of said act : that the land above described will 
not, without irrigation, produce an agricultural crop ; that there is no timber growing upon said land; 
that then i- not, fco my knowledge, within the limits thereof, any vein or lode of quartz, or other rock in 
place, bearing gold, Bilver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal; that there is not within 
the limit- <>f -aid land, to my knowledge, any placer, cement, gravel, or other valuable mineral deposit or 
-aline-; that no portion of said land i< claimed for mining purposes, under the local custom- or nil.- of 
miner- or otherwise; that no portion of -aid land is worked for mineral during any part of the year by 
any person or persons; that said land is essentially non-mineral land; that I became acquainted with .-aid 

land by ; and that my declaration therefor is not made for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining 

title to mineral land, timber land, or agricultural land, but for the purpose of faithfully reclaiming, within 
three yean from the date hereof, by conducting water thereon, a tract of land which i- desert land within 
the meaning of the act. 

Land Office at . 



/,„/,.) , 18—. 

I hereby certify that the foregoing declaration was this day -worn to and subscribed before me. 

, Register. 

, Rt r, ;,-, r. 



[No. 42.] 
DESERT LAND— ACT OK MARCH 3, 1^77. 

\ITII.AVI I. 

v.. Land Office it 

, IK— . 

I. , of county, , Ix-iii"; duly -worn, declare, u] ath, Thai I am 

resident of said county and ; that 1 am of the age of , and by occupation a ; that I am 

well acquaint- d w ith the character of each and everj legal subdivision of the following-di scribed land: the 
section No. , township No. — » rang No. , containing — thai I beca 



> 



acquaint. d with -aid land by ; that I have I*. a, acquainted with it for year- la-t pat ; ih.u 



60 

I have frequently passed over it; that my knowledge of said land is such as to enable me to testify under- 
standingly concerning it; that the same is desert land within the meaning of the second section of the act 
of Congress approved March 3, 1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain 
States and Territories;" that said laud will not, without artificial irrigation, produce any agricultural 
crop; that no agricultural crop has ever been raised or cultivated on said land for the reason that it does 
not contain sufficient moisture for successful cultivation ; that the same is essentially dry and arid land, 
wholly unfit for cultivation without artificial irrigation ; that said land cannot be successfully cultivated 
without reclamation by conducting water thereon; that said land has hitherto been unappropriated, unoccu- 
pied, and unsettled, because it has been impossible to cultivate it successfully on account of its dry and arid 
condition; that it is a fact well known, patent, and notorious, that the same will not, in its natural con- 
dition, produce any crop, that the land is the -; that there is no timber growing thereon, but that 

it is devoid of timber; that there is not, to my knowledge, within the limits thereof, any vein or lode of 
quartz, or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal : 
that there is not, within the limits of said land, to my knowledge, any placer, cement, gravel, or other 
valuable mineral deposit or salines; that no portion of said land is claimed for mining purposes under the 
local customs or rules of miners or otherwise; that no portion of said land is worked for mineral during 
any part of the year by any person or persons; that said land is essentially non-mineral land; that I am 
not interested in any way or manner, directly or indirectly, present or prospective, in any application or 
declaration made or to be made for said land, or in the land itself, or in the title which may by any person 
or in any manner be acquired thereto. 



[No. 43.] 

No. . United States Land Office, 

■ , 18-. 

It is hereby certified that under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1877, 

entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories," 

has this day filed in this office his declaration of intention to reclaim the following-described tract of land, 

viz: ; that he has rjroven to our satisfaction that the said tract of land is desert land as 

defined in the second section of said act, and that he has paid to the receiver the sum of dollars, 

being at the rate of twenty-five cents per acre for the land above described. 

It is, therefore, further certified, that if within three years from the date hereof the said , 

his heirs or legal representatives, shall satisfactorily prove that the said land has been reclaimed by car- 
rying water thereon, and shall pay to the receiver the additional sum of one dollar per acre for the land 
above described, he or they shall be entitled to receive a patent therefor under the provisions of the 
said act. 

, Register. 

$ • , Receiver. 



Note. — The word "heirs" is substituted in this form for the word "assignee," the Secretary of the Interior haviug declined 
to recognize the assignment of desert land claims. 



61 

[No. 44.] 
FINAL PROOF UNDER THE DESERT LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

DEPOSITION OF APPLICANT. 

Ques. 1. State your name, age, occupation, and residence. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. Are you a citizen of the United States, or, if not, have you declared your intention to 
become such? 

(If not native born record-proof must be furnished.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. If you have heretofore made a desert land entry, give the number and date thereof, and 
describe the land embraced therein. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Have you conducted water upon the land embraced in said entry, and irrigated the same, 
and reclaimed it from its former desert character, to such an extent that it will now produce an agricul- 
tural crop? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. What crops have you raised upon said land in each and every year since your first entry 
thereon under your declaration No. ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. How many acres have been sown or planted in each year, in what crops, and upon what 
portion or subdivision of the land, and what amount of such crops has been actually produced? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. What crops, if any, had been grown upon the land, or upon any portion thereof, and, if any, 
upon what portion, previous to your entry thereon ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Would the land, or any portion of it, by cultivation without irrigation, have produced any 
agricultural crop whatever, and, if so, what crop? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Was there auy natural water supply upon such land sufficient to fertilize or irrigate the 
whole or any portion thereof, and, if so, what portion ? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Has the amount of water conveyed upon the land in any one season been sufficient to so 
irrigate the entire tract as to render the same productive, and, if so, what crop or crops would such irriga- 
tion produce? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Has the whole tract been irrigated and cultivated by you in any one season? 

Ans . 

Ques. 12. Has each smallest legal subdivision or portion of less than forty acres been irrigated or 
cultivated either during one season or different seasons since the date of your entry? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. How much water per acre has been conducted upon the land, or upon any portion under 
cultivation in any one season; for how long a time was it so conducted upon the land, and at what times 
or seasons? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. In what manner was such water conveyed upon the land, whether by pipes or ditches, and 
how was it distributed over and through the soil ? State particularly and in detail, and describe the 
ditches as to their width, depth, direction through or around the land, and give the length of each. 

Ans. . 



62 

Ques. 15. Have you at this time the right and proprietorship of water sufficient and available to 
continue the irrigation of this tract and make perpetual reclamation of the land, and is it your purpose so 
to continue its use upon this land, and for the purposes of such reclamation ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. How was such right or proprietorship obtained, and by what tenure do you now hold the 
same? 

(Duly verified abstract of title must be furnished.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 1 7. Have you the sole and entire interest in said entry, and in the tract covered thereby, and 
the water appropriated to irrigate the same? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. Has any other person, individual, or company of individuals any interest whatever in said 
entry, tract, or water appropriation? If so, give the name, residence, and occupation of each such person, 
and the nature, amount, and extent of such interest. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 19. Have you made or become the assignee of any other entry, or have you any interest, direct 
or indirect, in any other entry under the desert land act? 

Ans. . 

(Signature.) 

I hereby certify that each question and answer in the foregoing deposition was read to the appli- 
cant before signed name thereto, and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this 

day of . 18 — . 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 



Note. — The officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to the following section of the 
Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute 
him to the full extent of the law. 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law 
of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written 
testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any 
material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two 
thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See § 1750.] 



[No. 45.] 

[The deposition of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.] 

FINAL PROOF UNDER THE DESERT LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

DEPOSITION OP WITNESS. 

Ques. 1. State your name, age, residence, and occupation. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. Are you acquainted with , who made desert land entry No. , on the 

day of , A. D. 18 — , upon the ? 

Ans. . 



63 

Ques. 3. How long have you known the party who made this entry? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Have you personal knowledge of this land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. H;is water been conducted upon the land embraced in said entry so as to irrigate and reclaim 
the same from its former desert condition to such extent that the same will produce an agricultural crop? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. What crops have been raised upon said land in each and every year since its first entry 
by , under declaration Xo. , and by whom? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. How many acres have been sown or planted in each year, in what crops, and upon what 
portion or subdivision of the laud, and what amount of crops have been produced thereon, and by whom? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. What crops, if any, had been grown upon the land or upon any portion thereof, previous to 
the entry of thereon? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Would the land, or any portion of it, by cultivation without irrigation have produced any 
agricultural crop whatever, and if so, what crop? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Was there any natural water supply upon such land sufficient to fertilize or irrigate the 
whole, or any portion thereof, and if so, what portion? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Has the amount of water conveyed upon said land by in any one season 

been sufficient to so irrigate the entire trad as to render the same productive, and if so, what crop or crops 
would such irrigation produ 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Has the whole tract been irrigated and cultivated by in any one season? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Has each smallest legal subdivision or portion of less than forty acres been irrigated or 
cultivated either during one season or different seasons since the date of entry? 

An-. . 

Ques. 1 1. How 1 1 1 1 1> -1 1 water per acre has been conducted upon the land, or upon any portion under 
cultivation in any oi i; for how long a time was it so conducted upon the land, and at what times 

ox seasons? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. In what manner was such water convey e d upon the land, whether by pipes or ditches and 
how was it distributed over and through the soil? State particularly and in detail, and describe the ditches 
an to their width, depth, direction through or around the tract, and give the length of each. 

An-. . 

Ques. 16. Has ;»t this time the right and proprietorship of water sufficient and avail- 
able to continue the irrigation of this trad and make perpetual reclamation of the land.' 

An-. — . 

Ques. 1 ". How did you become acquainted with the facts relative to the irrigation of said land ? 

An-. . 

Qaes. 18. I i ivc v.>i i any interest, direct or indirect, in this entry, in the land covered thereby, or in 
the v pply II- d in its irrigation '.' 

An-. . 

gwafars.) . 



64 

I hereby certify that witness is a person of respectability ; that each question and answer in the fore- 
going testimony was read to before signed name thereto, and that the same was sub- 
scribed and sworn to before me this day of , 1 8 — . 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

Note. — The officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to the following section of the 
Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute 
him to the full extent of the law. 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person in any case in which a law 
of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written 
testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes 
any material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not mora than two 
thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See § 1750.] 



[No. 46.] 

DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 
Receiver's Final Receipt, No. -. Declaration No. 



Land Office at 



-, 18-. 



Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars and 

cents, being final payment of one dollar per acre for the containing acres, at one dollar and 

twenty-five cents per acre, the sum of twenty-five cents per acre having been heretofore paid, as per original 
receipt No. . 



Receiver. 



[ No. 47. ] 



DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 



Register's Final Certificate, ) j Declaration 
No. . / \ No. 

Land Office at , 

, IS—. 



It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1877, entitled 

"An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories," , of 

county, State or Territory of , has purchased of the register of this office, and made payment in 

full for the land described as follows, to wit: , containing acres, at the rate of one dollar and 

twenty-five cents per acre, amounting to dollars. 

Now, therefore, be is known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of the General 

Land Office the said shall be entitled to receive a patent for the tract of laud above 

described. 

, Register. 

[ Note. — See original declaration and receipt, No. .] 



65 

[No. 48.] 
SWORN STATEMENT UNDER ACT OF JUNE 3, 1878. 

Land Office at 



, 18-. 

I, , of county, , desiring to avail myself of the provisions of the act 

of Congress of June 3, 1878, entitled "An Act for the sale of timber lands in the States of California 
Oregon, Nevada, and in Washington Territory," for the purchase of the of section , town- 
ship , of range , do solemnly that I* ; that the said land is unfit for cultivation 

and valuable chiefly for its ; that it is uninhabited; that it contains no mining or other improve- 
ments ; nor, as I verily believe, any valuable deposit of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; 

that I have made no other application under said act; that I do not apply to purchase the land above 
described on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to my own exclusive use and benefit; and that 
I have not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person 
or persons whomsoever, by which the title which I may acquire from the Government of the United 
States may inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except myself. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 1 8 — . 



[No. 49.] 

( The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case. ) 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS UNDER ACT OF JUNE 3, 1878. 

-, being called as a witness in support of the application of to purchase 



the of section , township , of range , testifies as follows : 

Ques 1 . What is your post-office address, and where do you reside ? 

Ans. ■ . 

Ques. 2. What is your occupation '? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you acquainted with the land above described by personal inspection of each of its 
smallest legal subdivisions ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. When and in what manner was such inspection made? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is it occupied ; or are there any improvements on it not made for ditch or canal purposes, 
or which were not made by, or do not belong to, the said applicant? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Is it fit for cultivation? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. What causes render it unfit for cultivation ? , 

Ans. . 

* In case the party has heen naturalized, or has declared bis intention to become a citizen, a certified copy of his certificate of 
naturalization or declaration of intention, as the case maybe, must be furnished. 
5 



66 

Ques. 8. Are there any salines, or indications of deposits of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal on 
this land? If so, state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits are valuable. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Is the land more valuable for mineral or any other purposes than for the timber or stone 
thereon, or is it chiefly valuable for timber or stone? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. From what facts do you conclude that the land is chiefly valuable for timber or -tone? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Do you know whether the applicant has directly or indirectly made any agreement or con- 
tract, in any way or manner, with any person whomsoever, by which the title which he may acquire from 
the Government of the United States may inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except 
himself? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Are you in any way interested in this application, or in the lands above described, or the 
timber or stone, salines, mines, or improvements of any description whatever thereon? 

Ans. . 



I hereby certify that witness is a person of respectability; that each question and answer in the 
foregoing testimony was read to before signed name thereto, and that the same was sub- 
scribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



Note. — Tin- officer befoi-e whom the testimony is taken Bhould call the attention of the witness to the following section of the 
Revised .Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascertained thai he testifies falsely, to prosecute 
him to the full extent of the law. 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Cn. 4. 

Sec. 5392, Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person in any case in which a law 
of the United States authorizes an oath to lie administered, that be will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written 
testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary 10 such oath states and subscribes 
any material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a tine of not more than two 
thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at bard labor, not more than five year.-, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See * 1750.] 



67 



UNITED STATES LAND OFFICES. 



Alabama. 


Dakota Ter. 


Michigan. 


Nebraska — Cont'd. 


Mobile. 


Sioux Falls. 


Detroit. 


North Platte. 


Huntsyille. 


Springfield. 


East Saginaw. 


Bloomington. 


Montgomery. 


Fargo. 


Reed City. 


Nevada. 


Arkansas. 


Yankton. 


Marquette. 


Carson City. 
Eureka. 


Little Rock. 


Bismarck. 


Minnesota. 


New Mexico Ter. 


Camden. 


Dead wood. 


Taylor's Falls. 


Santa Fe. 


Harrison. 


Florida. 


Saint Cloud. 


La Mesilla. 


Dardanelle. 


Gainesville. 


Du Luth. 


Oregon. 


Arizona Ter. 


Idaho Ter. 


Fergus Falls. 


Oregon City. 


Prescotfc. 


Boise City. 
Lewiston. 


Worthington. 


Roseburg. 


Florence. 


New Ulm. 


Le Grand. 


California. 




Benson. 


Lakeview. 


San Francisco. 


Iowa. 


Detroit. 


The Dalles. 


Marysville. 


Fort Des Moines. 


Redwood Falls. 


Utah Ter. 


Humbaklt. 




Mississippi. 


Salt Lake City. 


Stockton. 


Kansas. 


Jackson. 


Washington Ter. 


Visalia. 


Topeka. 


Missouri. 


Olympia. 


Sacramento. 


Salina. 


Boonville. 


Vancouver. 


Los Angeles. 


Independence. 


Ironton. 


Walla Walla. 


Shasta. 


Wichita. 


Springfield. 


Colfax. 


Susanville. 


Kirwin. 


• Montana Ter. 


Wisconsin. 


Bodie. 


Concordia. 


Helena. 


Menasha. 


Colorado. 


Larned. 


Bozeman. 


Falls of St. Croix. 


Denver City. 


Hays City. 


Nebraska. 


Wausau. 
La Crosse. 


Fair Play. 




Norfolk. 




Central City. 


Louisiana. 


Beatrice. 


Bayfield. 
Eau Claire. 


Pueblo. 


New Orleans. 


Lincoln. 


Wyoming Ter. 


Del Norte. 


Monroe. 


Niobrara. 


Cheyenne. 


Lake City. 


Natchitoches.. 


Grand Island. 


Evanston. 



Note. — By act of July 31, 1876, the land offices in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were abolished; and by act of March 3, 1877, the 
vacant tracts of public land in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are made subject to entry and location at the General Land Office, Wash- 
ington, D. C. (See Regulations, on page 12.) 



CIECULAE 



THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE 



' THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



TO 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE PRE-EMPTION, HOMESTEAD, 
TIMBEE CULTURE, AND OTHER LAWS. 



ISSUED OOTOBEE ±, 1878 : 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1878. 



